


Pale Ore

by LaughingHollow (sugoi)



Series: The Pale Prince [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: And maybe his thinks hollows hot, Another day in how many gods can influince hornet bingo, Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Grimms there because hornet and ghost are damn good baby sitters, Light Angst, No beta we die like wyrm!, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:13:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22249888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugoi/pseuds/LaughingHollow
Summary: After an accident that almost claims hornet's life, grimm escorts the young heiress to the bowls of deepnest, to meet someone who's been holding on to a very precious gift for a important someone for very long time.
Relationships: Other romantic interest hinted at later(unrequited), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet & The Knight
Series: The Pale Prince [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601743
Comments: 29
Kudos: 120





	1. A Wrym's Gift

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is set in the past but still after the time the Pure vessel was first sealed in the black egg,  
> The rest set a day or two after the events of the dream no more ending.
> 
> I blame all hollowknight fanfic authors for this...this is all your fault.
> 
> YOU BETTER THINK OF WHAT YOU DID!
> 
> lol i have a bad habit of working really slow and never finishing shit, so dont expect this to go far.  
> ....
> 
> But if it does..ill have you know the ship intended is Hollow/Grimm slay me! 
> 
> Found a gorgeous comic on tumblr about hollow getting their mask repaired and was like fuck that's beautiful and so here we are.

The Pale King stood with a regal and proud air, he glowed a soft otherworldly illuminous nothing like the old light, harsh and blinding, in a single glance his black steely eyes peered through the lower being, piercing through his many facades, and into the void that clung to his bones.

It was odd to be intimidated by such a docile looking yet imposing creature, they certainly could not be called of bug or of plant, no crude spines, sharp mandibles or thick carapeice that demanded respect, all in all the king had a rather small and dainty physique, but this was all a elaborate veil, a mirror tasked with the intent to deceive those around it, leaving naive to the powerful creature that lied just beneath their pure white shell.

Yes, they could sense it was just one of many forms the wyrm was capable of.

The mask maker considered this as they observed the pale king as they slowly drifted about their dwelling place silently, staring down his collection of masks with muted fascination, much like a young vessel would years later..

"My lord, Come have you for a new face? Have you not the perfect disguise?" 

They ask, disguising the uncertain feeling flooding their shell with inquiries, something seemed terribly off with the wyrm, they usually wernt ones to nonsensically dolly, let alone linger in places they deemed unnecessary, and deepnest of all places!

The pale king himself seemed diminished, tired, weariness clung to their proud frame, the wyrm was there for a reason, the mask maker, while no higher being with the gift of foresight, could sense something grave was upon them, the Wyrm was just biding his time as he paced to and fro about his den.

"Ahm" The king cleared his throat, seeming to at last arrange his thoughts to his liking, finally turned to address the mask maker in earnest.

" Pale Ore, do you know where it originated from?" The king tilted his head slightly with his inquiry, his narrowed eyes searching the other bug's face.

The masksmith paused for a second as they considered the king's question, it was an ingredient they seldom had the luxury of crafting with.

"I've heard rumors... But for certain one cannot say" the answer wasn't necessary for the wyrm already knew what their answer would be, still they somehow seemed disappointed in their inability to provide a more substantial answer.

"It comes from the body of a wyrm, more specifically their bone is made of the ore, I'm sure your quite familiar with black ore, am I correct?"

The king started pacing again, at first the subtle rocking of their heels, which soon escalated into them slowly migrating away from the masksmith once more, leading the mask maker to wonder if they were ever really interested in the masks to begin with, or just disguising their unrest.

They noticed a spark of light reflect off something as the Pale King had unfurled their arms, a golden parchment clasped possessively between their second pair of gleaming pale claws where in they usually laid hidden beneath his pristine white sleeves.

"I..yes, it is a material one uses every so often, rare as it is, I've managed to obtain it easier then the la-" 

They must have said what king was looking to hear, because in a instant the pale kind was in front if them again, the speed in which they moved was much faster then any being the mask maker had seen, and they had seen many creatures in their lifetime.

"Tell me mask maker, can your forge with it?" They asked almost desperately, their calm facade, fracturing like a fragile egg as their nails dug into the work table in front of them.

"Forge I can Pale one, are you seeking a mask of black ore..?" The mask maker tried again to decipher the meaning behind the wyrm's unannounced visit.

"I'd like to see them with my own eyes, if i may?" The wyrm stepped back, fully expecting his request to be met, their white claws leaving the work table they had once rested upon, the deep gauges abandoned carelessly would have been lethal to most bugs unfortunate enough to be on the darker side of the king's ire.

Normally the black ore masks were carved as a personal tribute to a god long forgotten by hallownest, a sign of gratitude to the mercy of one who's reign demanded all that there was in emptiness and silence, the barest foundation of the world around them, no the mask maker would not just let anybody see the masks, lest they damage the priceless gifts, despite their meager worth in the eyes of such vast and rightful nothingness.

But for the pale king, they would oblige, it was apparent the king would be here on no small feat, the caverns are dangerous and even more confusing even to a wyrm and all their power, if they turned up here they needed help, help only the mask maker could and would provide.

Without reply they moved from their work station, reaching over to a passage hidden behind a drape of tattered fabric, and descended down the tunnel craved of dirt and stone the king in tow, their pale light challenging that of the lumaflies stationed along the walls that lead to the shrine.

The pale king politely reframed from commenting on the crudely loud and grotesque sound their joints creaking with age and neglect, how long had it been since they properly stretched them? 

They could not recall? Certainly not that long? 

Who were they kidding they never left the place, they fully expected to breathe their last breath within the confines of their prison of faces, and happily so, despite their faith in the god of nothingness, they've always feared dying alone...

The mask maker stopped just short of the long passage, a long arm reaching up to block the path to the entryway into the shrine, they hesitated choosing their words carefully, before addressing the wyrm who waited patiently, head cocked slightly with an unasked question?

"Wrym, I've honored your request, these masks are relics and held at priceless value, I must request no harm come to them under your claws, for I now realize they are derived from one of your many rivals" 

"You have my word mask maker,  
it is not in my interests to destroy your handmanship, to be honest, I too am fond of molds and sculpting, had i found your collection threatening, id have destroyed it long ago."

The Wyrm's voice was flat dismissive almost, but the threat was evident nonetheless, their narrow eyes held a thinly veiled challenge, a challenge no wise bug would meet.

Dropping their arm the mask maker allowed the king to enter the shrine.

The room's interior was small, walls made of stone and gravel as flooring, a single large glass bottle holding around 30 lumaflies dangled from the center of the room, the king made almost no sound as his examined the many pure black masks that donned most of the space the walls have to offer.

They were designed much in reverence to hallownest's past denizens, they gleamed with an unnatural light not even geo could provide, the pale king stopped in front of a large black mask covered in intricate markings, multiple eye sockets donned the mask, the chains dangling from were the farthest the mask marker dared to resemble the like of a god.

The wyrm stared long and hard at the ebony mask, their eyes narrowed as they traced the markings carved into its otherwise smooth surface, the mask maker didn't need to tell them who the mask depicted, it was quite obvious the wyrm was already aware.

"I never intended nor took honor in the slaying of that foolish infidel, however had they been allowed to precede, their ideals would have led the kingdom of hallownest to ruin, extinguished in a heartbeat, much too young to challenge one's might as of mine, understand this, not without reason they lie here, there was no other choice..."

The king's gaze had clouded, anger and sorrow leaking through his usually stoic facade, they reach out a single hand, and hesitantly stroked his fingers down the black surface of the mask.

To the mask maker It almost felt like they were intruding, spying on a bug's moment of weakness, a brief personal respite, they found themselves wringing their hands as they waited forgotten under the heavy weight of awkwardness settling on their shoulders, the feeling they shouldn't have been there was suffocating, but where else should they have been? This was there home?!

"Mask maker.." The larger bug's head jolted towards the king who was now standing beside them, staring up at them, face blank as always, they were ever thankful for the wyrm yanking them from their reverie, they weren't used to such hard thinking...they were too old for this.

"I've seen enough, let us return to your den, im sure that trek has drained us both" the mask maker nodding, eager to return to their familiar workspace...when has they last slept? They couldn't recall.

They followed the pale king's light back into their common thriving space, the king themselves remained silent, there eyes downcast as they battled unspoken thoughts in there head. 

The mask maker a waited a respectful amount of time before attempting to pull the wyrm out of its own mind, choosing to tidy up their work station, a feat that would arguably take a bug with a single set of limbs much longer, it wasn't until they could practically feel the anxiety radiating off the wyrm behind them did it became apparent that they would have to save them from themselves and what ever it was that was troubling them...

"Were the masks to your liking wrym?"

The pale king jumped, startled out of their reverie, even still their hands fiddle together anxiously, as they scrambled for a reply, whatever it was they were seeking it must have been of great importance.

"Yes, you have an exquisite talent for crafting, to be honest I was very skeptical in your capabilities but having seen your work with my own eyes, it puts my weary mind to rest, im was right to come myself instead of someone in my stead, id never have asked this burden of you otherwise" the kings rambling peaked the mask maker's interest, so they wanted a mask did they? 

Obviously they must have, it was the only thing they were capable of crafting, but why so diligent?...many bugs came seeking new faces, but none quite so peculiar and meticulous as the wyrm.

"Are you seeking to obtain a black ore mask wyrm?" The mask maker asked in hopes of helping to king along with whatever it was they kept dancing around, surly it wouldn't be that hard to carve a mask for them, a little measuring would be required as the forks of the king's head were rather unique, but nothing the masksmith couldn't handle

"I would never have my own wear that filth!" The scathing reply cut through the room shocking both inhabitants, the pale king having enough tact to apologise before continuing.

"I.I must apologise masksmith, fear not my ire isn't for you, here" slowly the king pulled back his sleeve, reveling the golden parchment, the wyrm hesitating for a moment eyeing the parchment as if it were their most prized possession, before their eyes steeled over and the quickly relinquished the scroll onto the mask maker's work table.

Mask maker quickly snatched up the parchment half expecting the wyrm to beat them to it, half realizing it was very much likely they would have, had they not, the look on their face did not say otherwise, quickly they unrolled the golden parchment, it was a pretty thing, laced it gold and gold lace and embroiled with the insignia of the king's crest, it was revealed to be a blueprint immediately they understood as they marveled the intricate details of the wyrm's request, this mask was to be made of their bones.

They eyed the king as they figited in that calm manner they were often to indulge in when waiting for a reply as the masksmith considered the blueprint.

"Is it something you can craft?, the design is of high complication, i will not fault you if it is not something you can undertake..." The king stated, the masksmith wondered silently if the veiled fear they detected in the wyrm's voice was whether they could or could not, whichever it was the mask maker answered honesty.

"I will forge your mask for you, if that is what has brought you here wyrm, but i will warn you, while i request no compensation for my work...Something of this intricacy will cost much white ore..i trust you were aware of this when you sought me out?" The mask alone would take the masksmith years to carve, even so daunting as the task was, it was possible, the mask maker had never failed to complete a mask, and they didn't intend to any time soon.

"What you need, I will provide, the sacrifice pales in comparison to the steep price of my foolish mistakes..." 

The pale king's sharp eye glazed over, the words spoken more to themselves then the other bug present, it was if the weight of some unseen burdens were weighing the pale king down, the moment only lasted a second before the wyrm recovered, snapping out of his internal reverie, gathering his now empty claws back under his pristine white sleeves, moving towards the the exit, before hesitating, turning around to utter his final parting words.

"When it is complete, keep it safe until the gendered child comes for it, they will know what to do with it, it will be a long wait, but you will know when.." The pale king's voice was casually flat, their stoic mask firmly back in place.

"Will you not come to collect your boon?" A chill ran up the bug's spine, the feeling of foreboding weighting heavy in their core, .

"I...I will not" The Wyrm's hesitant reply was alarming, but short and clipped, it was obvious the king didn't intend to elaborate on his plans any further then he already had.

"Farewell mask maker, I trust you won't disappoint me, my sentries will deliver the required ore in three day's time, Keep your schedule clear, you have my gratitude."

Again, the mask maker was no higher being, but they were certain that this was the last time they would ever see the pale king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going over it to weed out most of the obvious types os and fuckups, if you spot one please don't hesitate to point it out!
> 
> Chapter 2 is 99.7% done and it will rely heavily on metaphorical depictions so be ready >8}


	2. Of Dreams And Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course they were dead, their life stolen by the void.  
> But there was still time, they were still dreaming...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning Dream sequence heavy
> 
> I get heavy metaphorical in here so please bear with me and my shit writing things will lighting up.

The bright sky whipped past her in her decent, the sweet scented wind tearing at her shaw as she tumbled helplessly through the air.

Hornet was falling.

instinctively she flung out her needle, with all the the precision of a tyrant of deepnest, but the weapon sliced through the sky before falling short, it had reached nothing...

There was nothing around her to stop her from barreling out of the sky, she was forced to stare down at the depthless blue reaching up to greet her, fear flooded her shell, she was a warrior and it was an emotion she seldom experienced, the feeling was new and unwelcome, like peeling the freshly healed scab from a wound.

Hornet reached out her arms to brace herself as she descended deeper and deeper into the sky, tears formed at the corners of her wind-stung eyes, but more importantly, the hands that reached out before her were not that of her own, they were small and plump and uncalloused, the shell still soft with the fragility of a young newly catched.

She was a spiderling, helplessly tumbling from the sky, defenseless without silk, without needle, wailing in Fear of the unknown, the sky burned an ugly shade of orange, bright and piercing, it's heat made the flesh under her soft carapeice begin to boil, the pain was unbearable, a deafening bubbling sound started to flood her ears

He retched helplessly as the thick sweet air tried to clog her lungs, flooding her windpipes with golden sludge causing the spiderling to choke on the urge to vomit. 

It was too much, the agony was unbearable, she wanted it all to end, the pain was too much, but the spiderling was powerless to stop it.

Suddenly it all stopped, the light tearing at her eyes, the burning inferno, it was extinguished, the sound flooding her mind, it was all silent, save for the muted wind whipping past her.

Hornet cautiously opened their tiny eyes to the pitch black carapeice of their sibling, she was safe and sound being held by the hollow knight, sensing safety she clung to them with all the strength her little chubby arms could muster, trusting them to deliver her to the ground safely, her face planted against their cool thorax, their large hands encircling the spiderling forming a protective shield between their sibling and the savage light.

Together they fell... Down, down , down through the endless sky, the harsh light reflects off their shell, the edges of the vessel's pristine white cape were sputtering alight as the beams of light slowly burned through the fabric to the obsidian shell beneath, still they shielded her.

With her short stubby arms hornet tried to pat out the flames closure to her, but the vessel kept her firmly tucked against them, deliberately pining her small arms away from the harmful light, she was forced to watch in horror as the flicking light hungerly consumed its way up their tattered infection stained cape, biting into their shell.

Their carapeice shattered like glass under the onslaught, bright orange and puss and void, swirling around them as their grip on the spiderling tightened, hornet realized they were no longer holder her with both hands but only one, the sight of the tattered appendage falling below them made her insides squeeze.

She wanted them to let her go, fight to save themselves, hadn't they realized they had done enough?!  
Did they not care they were dying?!!

Bright orange globs of infection, leaked down their mask, their empty eye sockets aglow with the same harsh light, the stray droplets stung like the acid pools of greenpath.

Hornet tries to push away as more infection starts streaming towards her, but the iron grip of the vessel is almost impossible to break, a loud loud cracking noise has hornet's head whipping up to witness the crumbling mask of the hollow knight begin to fall away.

Orange turns to grey, grey turns to black void, their sibling was no more, instead the young spiderling found herself being dragged down into the depths by a black spectre, its black claws digging into her shell as the shadows closed in around her, she was being dragged into the void, its cold grip leeching the warmth from her shell, struggling was futile as the feeling of ice crawled up her veins, above them the sky was black, no light save for the glowing hollow eyes of the shade holding her captive.

There was no escape, like a stubborn child, It clung to her dying form desperately, as if begging her to stay, its almost as if they were just as frightened as she was...

Hornet closed her eyes and held on...

The void was cold, nothing existed, but everything all at once, there would still be a world, long after it ceased to exist, in nothingness, the void kept all safe, everything lasted eternal.

Hornet was beginning to understand.

A strange heat appeared, contrasting the frigid emptiness of the void, it urged hornet to force her stiff eyes open, her lungs remembering to breath, when had she stopped?, the void was alight around her, scarlet flames falling from the sky, they cut through the shadows, illuminating the the thousands of huskless shades swimming in the abyss of darkness, circling her like curious children.

The flames dance in mid air instead of withering within the void, it was the last thing hornet saw before her vision faded...

* * *

The sky split as the nightmare heart tore its way through the veil of time and space and into the domain of the sleeping god, lighting the sunless sky like a phoenix, the god's massive leathery wings caught alight in eternal blaze cut through the endless shadows of the realm of void

It dived deeper into the abyss, its scarlet eyes seeking the stray soul stolen from the waking world, the darkness rose up to meet it, volatile as ever the void met the god of the nightmare realm head on, fearless and heedless of their sway in dreams, thousands of claws desperately reached for the god, only to be pushed back by a massive fireball and another as the nightmare heart retaliated against night.

While formidable to any god, the void despite having a mind of its own, wasn't half as powerful as the Shadelord themselves, it didn't mean the trespassing god wasn't in any danger.

They could feel the realm itself draining their immortal flames, cooling the eternal coals in their chest, they would have to be fast lest they be devoured by the carnivorous realm itself.

the abyss was teaming with shades, countless souls abandoned but refusing to be forgotten, had they allowed their vessel to go, they'd have been long dead before they found the gendered child, their light extinguished.

It didn't take them long to find the gendered child, hidden amongst the shadows, guarded by a large shade, trapped protectively within their grasp, immediately the nightmare heart recognised their sister's prison, and on reflex unleashed a massive wave of hellfire from their maw at what they considered a threat, there was no escape, the flames caught onto the wraith, the shade deteriorated under the onslaught.

even if it wasn't enough to destroy the spectre, it was enough to banish it to the waking world and out of the way, a vessel capable of such a feat as to restrain their sister for as long as it had was not to be underestimated.

Relinquished the gendered child's stiff body fell, the nightmare heart wasted no time in swooping down to catch the tiny mortal, the small corpse was cold in their grasp, of course they were dead, their life stolen by the void, but there was still time, they were still dreaming.

The nightmare heart's flames invaded the body, for a moment, just for a second the god of nightmares and the half wym were one, swopping her up in their eternal virbatim.

The child was lost in the dark, too proud to beg for a saviour, running in countless circles in a maze of shadow for eternity, a scarlet flame greeted her, it was larger then the last time she saw grimmchild and much redder, its demonic eyes also lacked the innocence ghost's burden withheld.

Still it was the henchmen of a dominion who's god she trusted

It's flames were a comfort in the immanent dark, it beckoned to her as if greeting in old friend.

she followed it through the dark and into a sunless dawn.

* * *

Hornet jolted awake, confused, disoriented, an insistent melodic tune calling her from her dreams, instinctively she would have reached for her needle but trying to move was difficult, her body stiff and quaking in pain when she moved to sit up, her head felt stuffy and she felt heavy like there was an extra weight her down.

And there was, as her eyes made sense of her surroundings in the dark room, the first thing they narrowed in on was the face of the newest spawn of ghost's previous burden clinging to her as if she were the troupe master themselves.

As Hornet's eyes adjusted further, she was startled to realize she was no longer stationed in the respite chambers of the pure vessel, instead hornet found herself amongst countless silken sheets, the large room lit dimly by a single flame, it wasn't hard to tell where she was once the gears in her head started turning, scarlet drapes stylized in the likes of the troupe leader told hornet she was still Within the confines of the troupe.

The bite of guilt dug into her shell, she should have been by her stabilizing sibling's side, their fragile state, warranted her Virgil, and yet she found herself somehow waking in one of the troupe master's resting chambers, what happened?! Why had she left her siblings side?

Her foggy brain couldn't recall anything of the previous night past the smell of healing incense and the sweet tang of infection that clung to the knight's cape, once white but now soiled beyond repair, her only company the fear that they wouldn't survive to see their first daybreak, a fear that had sat sourly in her stomach even now.

Had they past on?, and she tuned it out?, were they awake?

Hornet's head was demanding a thousand questions and no one was answering any of them save for the hellspawn chattering happily at her in the dark.

The little beast was perched comfortably on her throax, it's short wings spread across her like a warm velvety blanket, glowing black eyes staring down at her as it unabashedly rambled excitedly into her half sleeping face.

Quite used to this behavior hornet was preparing to push the little hellspawn aside so she could remove her self from the bed chambers and seek out someone to give her answers or even her sibling, yes she would check on their welfare first, but something the child uttered caught her attention.

Through their insistent murrs and nyahs, she detected words, scattered throughout the gibberish it was spewing in its very one sided conversation with her.

It was hard to make sense of what they were telling her, but for some odd reason, some of their chittering was legible.

".... .... Geo... ... Deceit...Coward..ghost..pleasure....spring... ....scream .....geo.... "

Suddenly the grimmchild abruptly stopped rambling, a moment pasts in silence, the common mischievous grin of their mouth falling for a odd second before inquiring in a odd tone that sounded very alien compared to their usual banter, much older, and precise than the spawn should have been capable of.

".... Ghost...  
.... Lord... ....?" It peered down at her, its large black eyes wide and pleading, anxiously waiting on her response.

"I..i don't understand what you request of me child.." Hornet spoke in a hushed voice to the bat child as it started uttering tiny cries of despair, hornet was no expert when it came to comforting one, but having seen their little sibling comfort the little heathen when it was hurt or being fussy long before it became the current host of the nightmare heart gave hornet a semblance of an idea.

lifting a sore arm to stroke the head of the little creature, she calmed it's quiet lamenting which soon turned i to sad murrs as they nuzzled her hand, in was in that moment hornet noticed her arm.

The sight of her limb was unnerving to say the least, that unease morphed into outright horror as hornet realized that the whole expanse of the appendage was covered in green healing bandages, the bandages traveled up her arm and vanishing beneath a downy white shawl made of countless feathers that had replaced her traditional scarlet one.

"What the fuck!"

"Language little one" hornet jumped the familiar rasping of the nightmare god catching her off guard, as red eyes flared to life within the darkness above her the bed, their form vanishing and rematerializing beside the gendered child with a graceful bow.

"Hm, You children of wyrm truly are durable if anything, I expected not to be graced with your presence for at least five more sun rises" the troupe leader muttered more to himself then hornet, as the straightened up.

Forgoing formalities altogether hornet cut to the point 

"What?!, Grimm why am i here? Where is the hollow knight, why am i not with them?!, where the hell is my shawl!" Hornet had to actively stop herself from continuing, as the more she spoke the more her anxious voice rose.

" I understand and apologise for your confusion hornet, i apologies if im slow to quail your worries, its been a hectic week for the whole troupe, let me put things simple, shortly after you fell sleep t-..." 

Grimm crossed his arms, hornet's eyes narrowed, her apprehension rising at what she identified as a defensive pantomime, subconsciously expressing unease through their body instead of their face, she had recognised it much during the grimmchild's time under the ghost's care, they were still little shorter then the previous nightmare god, and had yet to master the later's perfect facade.

"The hollow knight yielded to septic shock, their shade tried to take you with it, Hornet Wait!" 

The huntress could hardly hear as she abruptly stood, grimmchild squawking indignantly as their sent tumbling onto the floor along with discarded sheets, their cry flew over hornet's head as she rushed towards the large bedchamber doors, shoving them open, the room was located at the end of a dimly lit hall, bright red seals marred its surface, whilst its counterparts all provided other inhabitants privacy with thick maroon drapes.

As the doors of the troup master, swing closed behind her a cold, empty feeling settles on her skin, a piercing chill that refused to subside, she paid little heed to it, instead her mind a whirlwind of anger and confusion, somewhere sorrow and hysteria were in the mix but hornet had always repressed those feelings as they were likely to get one killed.

Hornet rushed down the hall, frustration increasing, where was the hollow knight?!

The rooms all looked alike to her, memories were so foggy that night, a blur of anxiety and exhaustion, she hardly stopped to look at the room the troupe members hauled their sibling's infection covered form into.

Meanwhile cold feeling had escalated into a freezing burn resonating from within her core, warning calls sounded in her head but hornet tuned them out,she would not let a wound get in her way, their sibling needed her, they were dying! Grimm had said it!

The hall suddenly, shifted sideways, hornet stumbled, her legs weak and shaking, she didn't understand what was happening to her but she had to make it to her sib- she managed a single step before her stomach clinched as a painful wave of intense nausea overtook the hunter, burning bile forcing its way up her throat and onto the floor, no sooner then finished gagging, another wave rose up from her stomach.

The black sludge that splattered the ground was shocking, it clung to the ground absorbing the heat and color from the world around it, hornet gagged again, the feeling of ice crawling up her throat as she choke, only void creatures bled of void? She was not of void like her or her siblings, so why was she spewing void like blood? 

By the time she finally managed to stop hornet could hardly see, black pock marks swam in her clouded her vision, all the strength sapped from her carapace, she tried to push forward her royal blood pushing her to defy in the face of odds even stacked against her, but her shaky legs crumpled beneath her, and suddenly she was falling.

just like in Her dream...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Grimmchild is retelling hornet the Odyssey of how Ghost hunted down a cowardly con artist who stole their geo and beat the shit out of them in a epic showdown in the hot springs...😏
> 
> And no hornets not of void...shes just got issues.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos they really help with inspiration!  
> Any typos let me know!


	3. Of Champions and void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation is held, hornet finally gets some answers,  
> Whether or not she like them is a different matter all together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spider hearts are on their ass/back dont tell me otherwise.
> 
> Update: added art for hornet's shawl  
> Over the past week this fict has sprouted legs and mutiplied...

Hornet never hit the ground, instead found herself in hoisted up into the arms of the nightmare god, silently he carried her as if she weighed nothing more then that of a mere mosskin, his smouldering carapeice silencing the ravenous chill that had awaken within her shell.

This close she could hear the sound of the nightmare heart beating within his carapeice.

She was too weak to complain when he brought her back to his bed chambers, the moment they emerged past the thrushold the two were bombarded by a very worried and upset grimmchild.

They latched onto her back, snuggling in close, a small but comforting ball of warmth against her cold shell, they tucked their head into the space between her neck plates and shoulder, making quiet little disparing chirps.

Their small body to young to radiate enough heat to rival that of their fathers yet, but they stayed planted to her side even after their father placed hornet back against the sheets.

There hornet curled in on herself, her claws digging into the downy shawl, as she tried to adjust to the pain, much like she had in the past during times when she had been particularly reckless during a hunt, or unexpectedly ambushed, but this was different, it felt like something was being ripped from inside her and severed with a blunt cold blade.

"Shhh, it will be over soon child..."

The knowing voice of the nightmare god was oddly soothing as he settled beside her, a warm hand stroked her back much like he would his own child, much like she wished her father would, back in the bright innocent days of her infanthood when she was naive to the cruelty he and the world were capable of.

"Don't fight it... let it come out, it is not part of you, nor are you of it, do not fear it..." God repeated like a calming metra.

The room before her started swirling, coming apart at the seams, and through her almost delirious haze, hornet felt thick tears leaking from her mask, heavy and thick, they left icy trails in their wake.

Did she feel like crying? She couldn't recall, somewhere someone was playing a sad melody and it echoed in her head, drowning out all the thoughts running rampant under a deep rumbling haze .

Dreams of void and infection plagued Hornet's dreamscape, infection bloated corpses now leaked black instead of gold, the irony and distilled smell of the black egg Filled her nostrils.

she stood before the hollow Knight's prison but instead of their older sibling, it was the younger knight, their body twitching and flinching as they struggled against an unseen force.

Thick chains much too large surrounded their small sibling's body, they scrambled to retain the savage light to no avail, eventually they buckled as a terrible cracking noise filled the silance.

she was running, to save them, to stop them as they stood above her Dreaming mother's form, their pure nail glistening in the light as they brought their weapon down without hesitation, driving the nail into her thorax with no regret, only then did they turn to acknowledge hornet.

When they did she was met with bright yellow glowing eyes as the little ghost yanked the nail from her mother's corpse before turning it onto themselves.

a loud rumbling briefly shook hornet from her nightmare, eyes cracking open to see a purring grimmchild's eyes reflecting white in the darkness.

They were perched against on her thorax, purring loudly in the dark, the black of their horns vanishing into the shadows, as its white mask glow with the aura of soul.

The tiny creature never blinked, sharp red eyes content watching the huntress as she began to drift back into a oddly calm and dreamless sleep, silent save for the ominous sound of a staccato heart beat.

Hornet woke to the sound of voices, albeit quiet they were, the sound was still enough to coax her into opening her eyes, lumafly's pale light creeped in from the pulled back curtains drapes shining down on her face, causing the huntress to squint them.

Blinking blearly as her mind roused to awareness, the soft silk sheets tucked loosely around her on all sides felt almost claustrophobic settling her mind against falling back to sleep.

She wondered if she was alone, there was a distinct lack of heat in the absence of both god and his spawn, but her senses were slow to return.

Sluggishly hornet sat up before flinching from phantom memory of pain, but much to her surprise it was no longer there, replaced with little but a dull strain.

"Ahm"

Hornet jumped as Brumm made their presence known with a small polite cough, lingering in the far side of the room just shy of the lumafly's light.

Hornet wondered how long he had been posted there, he didn't hold the same aura of malice his god and underlings held.

"I trust you slept well?" The servant bowed slightly before continuing.

"Master Grimm has requested you join Him for breakfast, if your appetite permits it so"

Hornet's stomach roared rudely in appreciation of the musician's offer,  
Brumm was kind enough to withhold any comment and spare the huntress anymore embarrassment then she was already stifling.

with quick nod hornet focused intently on making it out of the bed, on her weak, wobbly legs and not falling flat on her mask and embarrassing herself any further.

The stone floor was cool against the shell of her feet, not overly so, not like the phantom ice forcing its way out of her throat the oth-

" Brumm..?" Hornet stopped, hesitating in front of the doorway, her hands paused on the door handle as she eyed the musician across the room,

"How long has it been since I and the Hollow Knight returned from the temple of the black egg?" Hornets stomach soured as grimms words replayed on her head, she swallowed the feeling down and buried it deep within herself.

"Mmmph i'd guess bout a week, time drags on slowly now that the king's stasis has been shattered" the bug said carefully, they obviously did not want to excite the already tense princess.

"What?, It feels like its only been but a few hours.." Shocked hornet tries to recounts the days since they had emerged from the black egg, her dreams felt so real it was hard to tell what was a dream and what wasn't.

Hurried they descended down the tent halls, the raucous music and sinister atmosphere, feeling almost as close to sanctuary as the dark caverns of deepnest, hornet's joints felt stiff and unused, like she had been resting immobile for a decade.

Hopefully it would wear off with use and exercise, she would have to be in prime shape, if the freeing of the hollow knight marked the end of the infection there was much to be done.

A whole new slew of potential problems accompanied hollownest being habitable again and defenseless to anyone who wanted to take claim to the land.

Eventually the the hall took a slight weaving turn, hornet had began to wonder just how big the tent really was, it seemed endless.

Finally they were met with a huge black and gold drape acting as a doorway, Brumm pulled back the curtain, leading to the dining hall gesturing for the princess to continue on with a slight nod but lingering behind himself.

The dinning hall was alive with the sound of busy troupe members scuttling to and fro, the clattering of glass and metal, the flyaway conversations, orders and words she heard were foreign to her, a languages from somewhere outside of hollownest perhaps?

Hornet wondered how many kingdom's remains had they picked clean? How many fractured civilizations had they played out their ritual?

"Ah Princess! Im glad to see you've finally awakened, I was begining to think I'd have to wake you a second time."

"A second time?" Hornet echoed in confusion.

The nightmare god stood away from his seat at the head of the banquet table, greeting her with a easy bow, manners ingrained in him, passed down from countless lives.

"Come now sit, im sure your tired, you've fought quite a battle!"

The troupe master gestured to the seat beside him, something hornet found a bit odd and hesitated.

Usually it was a place he kept his offspring but curiously it was left barren, his kin was alone stationed instead at the polar opposite end of the table, adjacent to the troupe master, with a single plate in front of them.

They looked to be miserable and moping, seemingly thoroughly chastened.

"Don't worry, when they can learn to respect other's food they can have their rightful place back, untill then they are banished to the end of the table" Grimm gave a airy chuckle, as if he hadn't just read the huntress's mind.

The grimmchild in return made a distressed whine, ducking their head as if their father would scold them again.

"Sit, we have much to discuss" though the troupe master's scratching voice still held that casual air of friendliness, the command was clear, as they pulled out the chair for her.

Though her carapeice itched with defiance, she relented and sat in the offered seat, there was no point in being stubborn, it was more likely then not the god could sense her exhaustion almost as intimately as she felt it.

She was not too proud to not acknowledge that the troupe was under no obligation to offer their aid, to involve themselves with such complicated affairs, by right they should have packed up and left immediately after Ghost's completion of the ritual, yet here they were, an unlikely ally in a time of great uncertainty.

Surely the kingdom was no longer dying, what kept them bound within the land of hollownest?

was it all in obligation to those who completed the ritual?

Was this their thanks?

Why were all gods so confusing and strange...?

Ghost made everything seem so simple.

Hornet could recall the desperate ferocity in which she fought against the hoards grimmkins coming to claim her sibling's weak and crippled body.

She could still feel the burns on her arms from when their molten blood seared her shell, as she savagely slaughtered anything foolish enough to get close, the strain in her void drained muscles as she clinched her weapon.

The troupe master themselves had to be summoned to reason with the enraged tyrant, convince her to let down her needle, assure her they were no threat.

The chair was comfortable, a farcry from the unforgiving cold steel of the benches scattered around, it had been long since she had rested on somthing so soft that wasn't silk laden.

A plate was set before her Moments after she was seated, on it, some odd meat which seemed to have been roasted in copious amounts of honey, surrounded by what looked to be steamed clover seeds, it looked weird to her but she made no complaint, instead giving her thanks.

The food smelled delicious, despite not being able to identify the meat's origin hornet found herself tucking into the meal with unabashed hunger, It felt like she hadn't eaten in years!

It was too sweet for her preference but she would not be picky, especially since she realized it would be a good while before she would be fit to hunt for her own again.

Grimm watched the princess in patient silence, only moving to slide a goblet of white grape tea towards her, which she greatfully accepted and emptied within seconds.

It felt awkward eating in the presence of another bug, so long hornet had shared her meals with sulence and them alone, between the time she spent in solitude and with ghost the only bug she had eaten with was a oddly eccentric potatobug with a stupid looking mask on their head.

She didnt understand why the little knight accumulated such odd compeny but they seemed quite fond of the bug so she didnt go out of her way to kill them.

And as for ghost, they never ate, they simply just watched her eat, with what she could only explain as creeply astute fascination.

The memory was bittersweet knowing she wouldnt have the chance to properly get to know any of them, what had she done to deserve such pain in one lifetime?

The thought of the shattered mask floating in a puddle of void alone, left behind in the black egg to be forgotten like its previous victim made wane to her apitite and mood.

"I want to see my sibling"

It didn't take hornet long to start pelting the god with demands, she needed confirmations with her own eyes, before she could truly be at peace or anything close to it.

"I will need to collect their remains so I can properly put them to rest" she added more strongly when the god hesitated.

The words tasted so bitter in her mouth, hadn't steeled herself for this since the moment she awoke?

Grimm would not deny her, she would Not allow it, they needed a proper burial!

Somewhere quiet in the city of tears, Yes! it was the closest to the kingdom she could provide, and she was sure they'd appreciate the gesture even in death.

Grimm silently scrutinised the huntress, claws tapping a hectic beat against the table as he mulled over whatever it was that was going through his head, hornet stubbornly waited prepared to rebuff his denial.

When he finally did speak it was not with denial but with a question that caught Hornet off gaurd.

"Tell me sentinel, how many of ghost's siblings have fallen at the edge your needle?"

His tone was neutral, but Hornet felt a surge of guilt crawling under her shell, she had lost count...

There was so many, what were once empty corpses animated by the experiments of the pale king were now painted in a new light.

Determined but frail children, not empty but stripped of their ability to express otherwise, to show fear as she slayed them without a second thought, all drawn to the same beacon that had lured ghost all the way from beyoned the land of hollownest.

Many hadn't even fought back, some had fled, attempting to scale the ledge the trapped them within her makeshift arena in what now she recognised as panicked futile attempts, she was honestly suprised at the ferocity inwhich ghost retaliated against her, she also was surprised they hadn't killed her on the spot but they hadn't.

Shame would be an understatement for what she felt for the unfortunate vessels, still she would not regret defending Hera.

"Countless, at the time it felt nessecery in my ignorance, but now I realize it was not"

She stood her ground starring the god in the eyes, was he trying to ridicule her? if he wanted to damn her for her faults let him, his opinion meant little to her, no god's held much value to her.

"And did they stay dead..?" It was hard to hold eye contact with the god as it felt as if they were always piercing the soul within, dredging up those dark thoughts, hidden dreams to feed upon.

"Some were harder to kill then others.." Hornet answered guardedly still uncertain where Grimm was going with this, she hated higher beings and their cryptic bullshittery.

"We gods are fickle creatures I trust you are aware, more often then not we claim ourselves to be benevolent, but only to those we see as deserving, and the price to attain our favore is often very high, we seek our champions with mortiferous design"

Grimm paused to nudge the plate, silently urgeing the princess to continue eating, a request she obliged, Dispite no longer being hungry, so long as it kept him talking.

" Many times the ritual has failed, during these trials, I too have lost count of the many times I've felt your sibling's shell crumble under my predecessor's claws, but it is a necessary culling, for a champion is needed to ignite the flames of enternety, and what better then a creature who dares reject the laws of life and death?"

Hornet felt nauseous, hope was nawing at her heart and making it beat all wrong and weird, across the table grimmchild seemed to be getting fussy, haveing started chewing on the table and not so subtly demanding attention.

Grimm sighed, a painful noise from battered lungs no doubt feeling the brunt end of the nightmare heart's effects even this early into their role as vessel to the god.

"Even so, not all champions are immortal as we both can see" grimm hesitated for a moment before he caught himself, subconsciously crurling his arms within his cape and hornet wondered if he was mourning his past companion.

"But I believe your older sibling still has a fighting chance, they have not the luxury of death, not untill the king's seals are ridden of their carapace, their shade still withholds the essense of soul sealed within it, bound to it by their king"

And just like that the weight melted from her shoulders, never had she gratitude for a higher being's cruelty then she herself had then in a spell of selfishness, she felt like she wanted to cry but harsh conditioning prevented the tears from escaping her throax.

There was still hope, she could still protect them, ghost had trusted her to pick up the peices they left behind, fix what they failed to, protect who they couldn't on their absence.

She found herself with a renewed sense of purpose, she needed to keep her head on straight, she wasn't an expert on creaturs of void or their shades but the phenomenon had slipped her grief ridden mind.

Hornet quickly scarfed down the remainder of her meal, with little shame for table etiquette, she wanted to see them soon if they were in Such a poor state as the troupe master claimed, speaking of which.

" Grimm, you have spent much time with the little ghost, much more then I, as you said they did not always conquer their obstacles, tell me, what happens next?, how does one force a shade back into themselves?"

The god was silent with thought, head tilted as they pondered over her question, their serpentine tail twitching agitatedly, as they squinted at nothing in particular.

"Im not quite certain, their situations differ from one to another, quite a bit, Ghost always dominated their shade with nail and force, but the binds on the pure vessel will not allow that even if you managed to over power such a strong shade"

Hornet visibly deflated, but the god continued before she could stop him, bringing to light an issue she had considered but had little time to find a salution to.

"What will you do if they reject your aid?, would you force upon them your will to live, like the king had so many yeara ago..? even if they do not wish it so, know this, they never planned on freedom from their burden and they were fully prepared to die for it's cause.."

" They wouldn't know if they wanted to live because the were never given the right to!"

Hornet spat with a little to much force successfully silencing the god.

she was aware this could potentially pose a big problem, but she didn't need the obvious laid out so bluntly before her, she would not force a existence they didn't want on them, but she damn sure was going to make sure they had the chance to make that choice...as painful as it would be.

The troupe master shook his head sadly

"you were so young, you had little witness to their resolve, nothing their sacrifices justified still stands, everything they loved is gone, you'd be foolish to assume they are unaware of this, even from within the confines of the black egg the spawn of the white lady are capable feeling the life force of the world around them, even now we are battling their own self inflected demise and as direct product to this"

"Their own inflection?" Hornet paused, what was that supposed to mean?

" The pale king reinforced the black egg with seals and binds, to prevent both the vessel and it's ward from escaping, but the vessel also enacted seals on its own accord, seals from within its own being "

"The vessel created seals? But why? I don't understand"

hornet gritted out exasperated, she was anxious for answers, with the first proper meal her stomach, the strength in her limbs were starting to quickly return and with it impatience.

"The seals were set not long after their initial imprisonment, the purpose of the seals..well I'm no expert but my best assumption would be a depletion seal"

a rueful smile found the god's face as hornet felt her's fall behind her mask.

"Depletion? for what purpose would that serve?!"

" vessels such as Ghost and the Hollow Knight equally exists in stark contrast to the two forces keeping them alive, void and soul, opposing forces as they are, they lie in harmonial balance, coexisting within their shell, but if one were to disturb this balance by say exhausting one or the other, the equality would be shifted and thus the cycle of consumption would commence, both forces predatory in nature they would begin to feast on each other, the weakest dying out first, followed by the other"

Grimm eventually stood from his chair and began tidying up in preparation to leave the dining area, arranging and pileing dishes to be collected by the imps, hornet followed the god's suit and begin collecting the used goblets and cups closest to her as she tried to make sense of the situation.

"It's usually a afflection that affects higher beings albeit rare, but instigated in such a deliberate manner, it could very well lead an end to a higher being, let alone a diminished god and her host, I can only assume that was the vessel's intent from the moment they set foot in the black egg "

Grimm murmured quietly as if other gods would look down upon sharing this insight with a being below their caste.

"So they were trying to kill the old light within themselves?"

Hornet's head was starting to spin, as a spiderling part of her fully expected to never see the hollow knight again after their sealing, but the thought of their body rendered into a pile of shell and void made her insides squeeze uneasily.

"In a most inefficient way, I would presume as such, however their plan was doomed to fail, my sister was not one to be trifled with, no god will die willingly, and if that seemed to be the vessel's goal, likely my sister aware as well and intercepted this, even if they were truly hollow, they were much too young to challenge such a force as my sister... your father was either a very foolish king or a vary desperate one.."

His scathing voice sounded almost foreboding, as if he possessed the power of foresight and not the pale king himself.

" They made many mistakes in their rule...were you aware that his plan wouldn't follow through? does the nightmare heart possess the gift of foresight as well?"

Hornet asked, deliberately ignoring the transparent venom that laced its way into the nightmare king's voice, it was not directed at her, but the one who sired Her, and she would not rise to defend someone who had such a history of pain under the crown of their rule.

By now Grimm had arranged all the dishes in meticulous piles on the table, the amount of time it took him to do this made the huntress question if they had some mild sort of OCD or if it was another trait they picked up from ghost and their precarious habits.

"Hollownest's king would hear no reason, most certainly not from the likes of me, and it was not my place to interfere in the squabbles of other god lest their ravenous ire be directed elsewhere, but the realms of nightmares and void are astoundingly vicinal, and though robbed of their voice, the terror of their dreams often  
Rang out louder then anyone else's"

The troupe master hesitated, bright red eyes slitting as if mentally calming himself before continuing.

"To put things simple, had your father had the power to walk in dreams such as I, you would never have had the luxury of meeting your sibling, he'd have thrown his child back into the abyss to face it's death long before they reached their first stage of pupation..."

The words hit hornet in the gut, like the edge of a crawlers pincer forcing its way into her shell.

She couldn't face the terrified phantoms that haunted the abyss, the many restless souls of frightened children abandoned for death, the countless shells piled up like a hungry fortress, ghost had been through the abyss, cut down their long deceased kin and returned w-

"Come child"

Hornet jolted looking up to the god beckoning to her with a clawed hand, she had not realized she had paused mid reach for a glass, swept up and imprisoned in her own mind, she was thankful that grimm had noticed and cut off her dark train of thought.

said god had moved to retrieve his spawn, cuddling them under his neck affectionately, having seemingly (much to Grimmchild's delight) forgotten their ire at the child's previous misbehaving, despite this hornet could sense the troupe master was upset.

The tense possessiveness in which they clung to their spawn gave hornet much insight into what they thought of the pale king's methods of handling offspring.

Silently she followed in tow as he lead her out of the dining area and into the main hall.

The halls were empty, most of the troupe's inhabitants having started, rehearsing roles, or setting up props for upcoming shows.

The odd thing was hornet found in startling contrast to the dinning area, they were all surprisingly quiet, their voices soft and hushed, it was a starting contrast to their normally raucous and boisterous atmosphere, there was music playing, but instead of the insistent beat natural to the troupe it was a slow and melancholic melody.

She couldn't drag her eyes away from the scene, as if it was all the same yet, subtlety muted somehow...like the troupe was in mourning..

Before she could open her mouth to question the scene they had just passed by the trope master came to an abrupt stop before a room donned with an actual door.

It was sealed tightly, the sizzling spark of a red danced around a glowing seal marring its surface, a brand of some sort of the nightmare god.

Hornet recognised the door immediately, and found her feet moving by themselves as she approached the door only for the troupe leader to block her path with a long wiry arm .

"Are you certain you are prepared to accept this burden princess?, the trials of claiming your sibling as well as the dying kingdom ghost has entrusted to you?" The god inquired solemnly.

It was hornet's turn to sigh, the weight of responsibility was crippling, but as the queen of deepnest and sentinel to hollownest, it was a burden she was ever familer with.

"I will see to my sibling first, what comes after will be delt with when the time comes" hornet kept her ambitions firmly guarded, it was never wise to show one's weakness even to a temporary allie.

" As you wish princess or should i be addressing you a queen now?" The troup master dipped their head respectfully.

"Please just Horn-!!!" Hornet was caught off mid sentence, as something slammed against the door, then a blood curdling shriek split the silence, as the steel screeched with the sound of claws violently racking against the barrier that stood between them and the enraged shade.

"What in the nine hells was THAT?!" Hornet gasped out in shock as the door boomed under another assault, subconsciously reaching for her needle and thread that wasn't there.

" That, is the hollow Knight's shade, it wasn't this excitable previously, it must have heard you and responded "  
Grimm muttered eyeing hornet thoughtfully before continuing.

"The night you were watching Virgil over the hollow knight, the vessel lost control of those seals under the weight of their afflection, it's powers ate through both of your carapaces.. albeit weakened greatly, it's drain was still potent enough to steal your life from you, their shade tried to flee with what was left of you..."

Hornet's mask jerked to Grimm's to find their red eyes boring holes into her mask, previously this statement was quickly glossed over in her haste but this time his words sunk in.

The sound of her heart pumping unnaturally in her ears became vary ominously artificial feeling...

"Ah don't look so surprised princess, did you not realize how volatile the void had to be to contain my sister?, let me assure you, it wasn't in their intentions to hurt you, you were just...caught in the wake, rest assured, the void that flooded your shell is almost completely vanquished, burned out"

he explained, Hornet wasn't sure if she liked the nuance in the god's words, she had learned from a young age to take their words with a grain of salt, but it did indeed make sense, the painful emptiness trying to hollow her out, the chilling bite crawling within her shell, was that considered a normal state for a vessel?

Was this how ghost and the hollow knight spent their every waking hour?

How could the pale king had been so cruel as to create something with such a distorted state of being.

she scarcely remembered the shell of her older sibling, the only chance she had their cracked obsidian shell was searing hot with infection, hardly anything to make a proper judgement of.

But little ghost, having camped several times with their enigmatic younger sibling in kingdom's edge, hornet became astutely aware of the chill that clung to their small body.

It was surprising how clingy the little stoic knight could be, and Hornet would never admit to the panic attack she had to battle when she woke to what seemed like a dead child sleeping against her shawl, they held no warmth within their soft and leathery carapeice, quite the opposite.

That aside there was still a question nagging at the huntress, one the god was gracefully neglecting, a question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to.

After a moments hesitance she turned to the Troupe leader, who was still silently keeping between her and the barrier to her sibling while still clinging to his child.

"You have no debt to me, why would you save me if i had died as you proclaim?" Her voice did not falter, it was not a weakness hornet afforded herself especially in the presence of a higher being.

Scarlet eyes nerrowed, and for the first time hornet realized that the red that clouded the entirety of them was a dilated iris, as it transformed into a moon shaped sliver.

"A small price to pay sure those who aid in the our endless ritual, while it was no small feat, we gods pick our champions and reward them a such"

With that the god took a bold step towards hornet, their nimble claws coming to rest on the small of her back, the minute his hands grazed the shell of her lower back her heart, seized, jumping with an off fiver.

His claws were smouldering hot, but so was the organ pumping in her lower throax, filling her shell with an alien heat, pumping to the beat of the nightmare heart.

"Do you feel it? The power of the nightmare heart?" His voice was low, as if he wasn't focusing on her but somthing else, he removed his hand from her back and the huntress almost collapsed, heart beating rabidly in the absence of the god's touch.

it was confusing and almost humiliating the wave of agony that rushed through her when the god stepped out of her personal space.

What the fuck had he just done to her?!

The mirth in his eyes as he appraised her made her want to stab him, the alarm bells were ringing, and hornet felt almost unfairly outclassed without any weapons less the god was more hostile then the little ghost as been convinced.

"Rest assured huntress, there is no other place you'd be safer then here, you and your sibling" the god said still eyeing the agitated bug before him.

Hornet was having a hard time trusting the troupe master's words when her heart still felt the need to leap out of her back and at them at any minute.

"It is the thrall of the nightmare heart, its flames call out to its master, just like we, and for now you as well"

Grimm gestured to himself then hornet casually, but it went almost ignored as hornet tried to process what the god had just revealed to her, hands digging into her shell she tried to ground herself before her fight or flight instincts took over, he had never been one too flee.

"What prey wyrm have you done to me!?" She had intended to speak more civilized but instead it came out as a furious hiss, her cherlicera chattering threateningly as her venom glands started pumping.

A wickedly sharp smile cracked the nightmare god's, usually mouthless face as he announced with shamless pride.

"You my child, are infused with the flames of the nightmare heart"

She was going to murder this god with her bare claws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew this chapter did not want to end holy shit.
> 
> Been obsessed with a modern au comedy i started drabbling as a joke fueled by an artists gorgeous moderen gremm/PV a  
> Ship art.
> 
> Ill post it up later when my internets not being like the path of pain. That said for typos as well.


	4. Plight's Impasse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You have many things to fret about Darling, as Hallownest is now godless, Unn has ascended and left this land without god or official claim, in others words it is now a beacon that is ripe for the picking, one I doubt will be overlooked for vary long"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give Grimm an inch he takes a mile, hornet finds out the hardway.
> 
> This chapter is grotesquely drawn out and it was stretching on to infinity and i ended up making the decision to chop it in half and its still long as shit, im sorry.

Hornet stared down the god, seldom had she allowed herself to be cornered by an assailant or foe, and while the troupe had indeed offered aid, their motivations were as cryptic as their ambassador, was this sinister creature truly the chattering imp that served as ghost's trusted companion.  


was it ever really a child? or was it all but a facade, a mask of feeble falsehood to insure it's host would hesitate to abandon it, and ditch the ritual before it even had time to properly start?

"I swear princess if looks could kill, we'd need not worry about the ritual ever again!" The god chuckled down at her.

She watched as he detached his spawn from his thorax, tossing the batling in to the air with practiced ease, the child caught flight immediately , with a fancy flip, it shot dawn the hall, chattering as it went, through its rambling Hornet made out the name Divine, and shawl, it now made sense, she felt foolish she hadn't considered earlier.

"Yes they speak of flames, your understanding of it is just a small side effect, it wont last long, that I trust you know is the least of your worries my dear.." 

The troupe master seemed much more formidable without his child in hand, his blatant maternal instincts did wonders on softening the bite of his sharp and enigmatic demeanor, the way his arms curled under his cape seemed to hint at a volatile nature his child wasn't prevy to.

It put hornet on high alert

"And what are my worries? What do you seek from all this Grimm? What do you gain by linking me to your wyrm forsaken god and its nightmares?!"

Hornet hissed lowly as not to excite another onslaught of assaults against the door behind them, meanwhile the god just shrugged easily, his eyes still held a mild spark of amusement in their midst, a spark that pissed off the huntress further.

"You have many things to fret about Darling, as Hallownest is now godless, Unn has ascended and left this land without god or official claim, in others words it is now a beacon that is ripe for the picking, one I doubt will be overlooked for vary long"

The god spoke calmly but with the same foreboding air he foretold the failure of the pure vessel, Hornet couldn't deny she had expected this, those looking to claim ownership of their pale kings otherwise prosperous foundations.

But she had never factored foreign gods into the equation and what is this about Greenpath's god..?

"What do you mean Unn has ascended?! how can a god just leave? She's aquatic! She can't even get out of that lake and you expect me to believe she just flew off into the heavens?" Hornet bite out her frustration boiling over.

"I'm sorry, i... let me elaborate, the god Unn is dead, she no longer has claim to the domain of...greenpath as you call it" The troupe master elaborated his claim with exaggerated hand gestures of which weren't anything short of patronizing, it was obvious it had little interest in dwelling on the subject.

Hornet was silenced mid rant, mouth still parted mid speech, stunned out of her misgivings by the shock of the news, she had lived years in the dense foliage of greenpath governed by the benevolent and docile god, without Unn what would happen to its inhabitants?!

How long could it survive without its creator? 

"H-How could this happen?!" 

"You should know we gods are more then capable of killing and being killed more then anyone, I know not what resulted in her demise, I just sensed her fear in the throes of death, I do however suspect it was untimely, as Unn is a god ancient beyond most, time has no grip on her" 

The god pondered to himself, meanwhile Hornet stood stiffly, was he implying someone slayed the god of greenpath?, hornet felt a chill run up her spine, one that had little to do with the void tainting her blood, as much as she hated the idea, the huntress needed to investigate his claim as soon as she could, to confirm he if was deceiving her or not.

Obligations were already starting to pile up, every moment the kingdom's situation become darker, there was no savior to challenge the unknown, whatever malice drawn to hallownest would fall onto her shoulders.

"You haven't answered my last question troupe master, why are you helping us, what do you wish to gain gain?, do not avoid it lest i title you enemy myself.."

Grimm regarded her in silence as she vocally back him into a corner, she could sense his deliberation, calculating and cold against her shell, she most thought he wouldn't answer but then he smiled, face slowly crack in as he fixed her with a somewhat manic look she couldn't quite decipher, this time she didn't feel or hear his projectile when he finally replied, instead she was met with the sight of sharp jagged teeth as the god spoke.

  
" we want you to accept the nightmare heart, we will protect you and what you love, you can't protect them alone, soon hallownest will be a grand stage for the bloodthirsty gods looking to exploit and plunder what little it has left to offer, the end of this kingdom is upon us, let us be your shield against the unavoidable, accept my gift and we will, our flames will be yours"

The actual voice of the god was quite different from their godspeak, in its own rite it was terrifyingly, like raw metal grating on steel, voice carved and hollowed out from ceaseless pain, agony that transcended lifetimes, trapped in the hungry flames of a constant inferno, it wasn't hard to understand that what spoke before her, through its vessel was the nightmare king.

Still she steeled herself refusing to show weakness, despite the pull she felt towards the god, she would not allow him to fed off her fear, still she had to keep them talking, she needed to understand their motives but they only spoke of what would be and what she would gain, dancing frustratingly around her actual question. Hornet inquired sharply.

"And what in turn do you seek to obtain for your services god, nothing is free and as you and your vessel already stated, your favor does not come cheap..."

"Oh Hornet, I am a very generous god, all i ask is small in comparison, when hallownest falls, you will leave along side us, and with you the vessel, for now and always, together void, light and shadow shell dance for eternity"

Hornet blinked in shock before anger overtook her disbelief, Instantly she understood, the god was after their souls, it wasn't uncommon knowledge that the troupe thrived on ensnared souls, but Hornet had been raised in the white palace for a almost equal portion of her childhood, did he think her a fool to make such a ill advised pact with a god such as he?!

"You must think me mad, to assume I'd let another god stake claims on the pure vessel! Hallownest is already dead, we need not the aid of higher beings to tell us so!, is this the trap you ensnare all your slaves with god?, force upon them your flames and manipulate and burn their wills asunder?!"

Hornet spat with contempt, how dare they make such a bold proposition, it was best she did not have her needle on hand, for surly she would have been too weak to resist the urge to impale the troupe master with it.

"My child you misunderstand our motives, to surrender one's soul, a person would have to be of sound mind and will, dubious consent is not an option, further more those who are to extinguish the flames must retain their...being, you must still be you, and they them...but you would indeed be embodied with the nightmare's flames such was the vessel before you, wherever the torch is lit you will heed to call as well"

Grimm smiled as the huntress's eyes widened, disbelief flooding her shell as she processed what the god revealed to her, she was aware that her smaller sibling was involved in the dark ritual of the troupe, they had been for some time, but the depths of their involvement was a mystery to her.

  
"Ghost was in possession of the flames! how could that be? Ghost would never have agreed to such a fate!"

Hornet's voice was raising as the hysteria in her stomach boiled threatening to force up the food she ate not so long ago as her composure started to unfurl at the edges.

"Candidates are sought out by our spawn, if they accept our proposition they are to leave with us come dawn, my dear friend however encountered unforeseen obligations which rendered are agreement neutral" 

Grimm sighed, his arms curling in beneath his cape.

The god's voice was barbed with thinly veiled ire, a ugly scowl smearing their usually grinning pale mask for just a second, as they eyed their claws distractedly.

"You mean to say you planned to kidnap the little ghost as soon as they completed the ritual?" 

Clarity was dawning on hornet and things were starting to make sense, it was a rare day she encountered her sibling without the company of the god's spawn, it clung to the tiny vessel as if it were an external organ, the only time she couldn't recall seeing it was as ghost entered the black egg.

Everything the god had told her was starting to ring clear in her head, of course a god would be reluctant to leave something they found so valuable behind, the nightmare heart had laid claim on a being and ultimately lost it to the radiance... was this all just a game of spite to them? or maybe something else entirely?

"And what of my sibling, if they don't accept the flames.. will these so called gods hurt come after them?"

Hornet hated herself for the stutter that escaped her thorax, she didn't trust the god, not by far but they were the only ally she had in this kingdom of bones.

If anyone planned to claim Hallownest surly they'd come after the pale king's heirs first, and even if the heir who donned the king's brand had already fallen, their was no doubt, anyone who set eyes on the hollow knight could see that they held the pale god's blood in their veins.

  
"That is why i come to you with our proposition, where you go they, do not doubt they will follow, you are all they have left!, there is nothing lest for you here! It is more the-" 

Grimm was cut off as a loud scream resonated from behind the door, desperate and bone chillingly painful, both hornet and the troupe master both jumped in surprise, the call sounded again much louder, as the shade slammed themselves against the battered metal door.

" why are they doing that?!" Hornet yelped, still startled from its first howl, the sound somehow dug beneath her shell filling her with odd chilling longing, the urge to yank open the door and go to them was almost overpowering.

" The hollow knight is calling out to you my friend, as shades do to all associated with their unsound regrets.." 

The godspeak was silent but still loud enough to shatter the frail trance the huntress was falling into, tattered memories of cold arms digging into her she side, as white eyes bright as the sun flared down at her, the whipping wind, the suffocating darkness, the scarlet lights...

"You came for me..." 

It came out almost sounding like a quiet accusation, she didn't try to correct herself still trying to make sense of the mottled mess of memories and dreams.

To her surprise the god stepped away from her and the and door, looking down to examine his claws, an air of shame clung to his thin frame.

  
"Ah, huntress.. As much as id love to gain your favor by shouldering the title of your savior, the truth is much less glamorous." Grimm paused a breath, his tail gave an agitated flick despite seeming at ease, the next words they uttered had hornet bristling again.

"The void called out to the nightmare heart, had it not we never would have known, much less intervened, seldom do gods ask favors of one another...it was definitely a surprise"

Grimm admitted as hornet's eyes widened.

There was a pause as hornet waited for the other shoe to drop, from hum to admit to his poorly planned joke, but as minutes slid by the troupe master did not break the silence, so hornet did herself.

"The god of void? another one?!, why didn't you tell of me this earlier?!" 

Hornet questioned with exasperation, she was up to her neck in the crawlershit of gods, only for one more to rear its hideous, likely cryptic-er head!

"Not all happenings involving gods need pass through you first princess" the god childishly spat back, in a way that made hornet wonder if it had just slipped his mind, and he was too petty to own up to it.

"You know what? your right!, Surly a god requesting pardon from what would have most certainly have been my demise does not concern a mere mortal such as I!" 

hornet rebuffed agitatedly, behind them the shade howled again, it seemed to be grating on both god and spider's nerves alike.

"Half" the Grimm muttered, in a tone sounding somewhat christened, while also somehow petulant, though it did not show on his face.

"Half...Half what?" Hornet blinked confused as the god continued to glare down at his claws.

"You are only half mortal, I'm sure you are already aware of this princess, but the pale king was one of the oldest and most powerful among gods, only my sister's light could rival that of his own in a stalemate, though he more often then not, chose not to show it, I doubt you'll be spared regarding his progeny" Grimm stated matter of factly.

"The wyrm's magic has overlooked me, thankfully diluted by mortal blood, our like is only fleeting in appearance" 

Hornet declared haughtily, her head raised high with pride, she was proud of her spider roots, but also assuring herself with the words spoken from proof and logic.

But the look the god shot her, gleaming appraisal, sinister and sharp made her assurance curdle beneath its weight, still he did not challenge her resolve instead, he agreed with a cryptic dip of his head

"Time most certainly will tell... speaking of time it seems to be running out, we have a few days at best before their soul depletes fully" Grimm stepped up to the door, grazing his claws over the surface, only for his fingers to come back damp much to hornet's confusion.

She took several brave steps towards the steel door, not one to let her fear show, she stood her ground beside Grimm, this close she could see frost, crawling along the cold surface, condensation leaking down in then streaks where the nightmare god's had touch.

"Grim-" before she could finish she was silenced by a thin black claw, he shook his head then gestured for her to listen, irritated but not foolish enough to disobey the suggestion, hornet leaned in, tilted her head to the side and listened, at first for a long time, there was just deafening silence, but just before she pulled back she heard it, it made the skin between her carapace crawl.

Undoubtedly it was the sound of heavy breathing, and a quiet voice, no many quiet voices, writhing and chittering, she couldn't understand what they were saying but she felt like she should have, hornet leaned closer, the voices were just out of her ear shot when suddenly all the voices raised into a high pitch scream.

Hornet jerked back, her ears still ringing as the spell ricocheted off the door, it felt like the noise alone bruised her organs, then and there she decided, she she did not like shades, not in the least, she had seen them before, having slain many vessels in her life but non so obnoxiously temperamental as this.

Was this how their sibling would have been had they not been made to be hollowed out?

Or was this what laid hidden beneath her siblings placid demeanor? Just how well did she even know the vessel on the other side of the door?

She vaugly recalls them following her throughout the pale palace halls, tall, radiant and unattainable to all but her.

As a child she thought she understood what hid under their shell, to hornet they were a child just like her, lonely and afraid, different in every way from those around them, isolated from their birth heritage and the creature it created.

But that was years upon lifetimes ago, the only sense of assurance lied in the truth that the vessel had recognized her, they actively sought her out with the last of their strength and collapsed at her feet.

The sound of the their nail screeching across the floor as the desperately tried to kneel before her, their battered and broken body quaking in refusal as they crumpled, the sight would haunt hornet for years.

  
Grimm's godspeak brought hornet out of her mind, dark thoughts scattering against his grating voice, she was beginning to think he did it on purpose...

  
"Ah yes, Howling wreaths...i always hated that spell, but that's aside the point, the hollow knight is still with us, but more importantly once a vessel has lost it's being, they can become very... Volatile even more so then you, they will need to be bound, and quickly"

The word bind immediately made Hornet bristle, the urge to grip her needle despite its absence was difficult to ignore.

"Troupe leader, know that i am of only half wyrm blood, we spiders have no tolerance for riddles, we value family above all else, that being said, little ghost sacrificed their life in gain of their freedom, and yet you ask me to re shackle them, after everything you dare proposition binding them again WHY?!"

Hornet's voice was low but steely, she didn't realize how hard she was clenching her claws...

The cold truth stung deep within the huntress, within the walls of the black egg she learned the true destruction the infection was capable of, the stench of rotting carapace and sweet sickness, what devastation would have been had she been successful in her early ambitions to slay the ghost.

Facing their older sibling was the only time hornet had ever seen little ghost hesitate, sorrow in their voiceless cry, now ghost was gone, and the hollow knight free.

The cost of their freedom steep, she had gained and lost all in such a meager short time, mourning hadn't quite caught up with her yet.

Was she even allowed to mourn for someone she tried repeatedly to kill?even if she wasn't, she would not let their death be in vain, hornet was unwilling to let things slip through her claws as they had as a child.

" They have earned their freedom countless times over, I will see that they get their reprieve! little ghost's sacrifice demands this of me, and i will strike down anyone who objects!"

She hadn't realized her voice had risen, in front of her the troupe master remained silent, the bright red eyes narrowed, a slight frown tugging down the corners of their mouth.

"Then I shall strike them down along side you" Grimm shot back, and hornet deflated realizing the the god had drifted back into that weird alliance mindset, why was he so desperate to monopolize them? 

She moaned frustratedly, where gods all this..clingy?

Somehow the huntress found it in her heart to pity any poor soul unfortunate enough to catch the god's fancy, if that was even a thing that was possible..

Hornet does not voice this however, it would be pointless and likely waste more time then she was willing to spare.

Instead she squinted up at the god, tilting her head imploringly, crossing her arms under the downy shawl, and waited for them to explain their sibling's predicament, ignoring his previous response all together.

"Your sibling's shade is part of them, yes, but it does not define who they are, or their true nature, it functions predominantly on negative emotions and memories, emotions that breed unrest, it will kill you and yet nothing will appease it's hunger, that is their fate if you do not bind them to a vessel, rest assured, your sibling will not suffer the confines of the black egg's prison again"

The god's words soothed the flames of her anger, but just as soon it was replaced with anxiety.

  
"...how does one bind an unruly shade to it's vessel?, surely the hollow knight would have claimed it already if it were within their powers to do so"

Hornet's stomach rolled, if they couldn't themselves then it was up to them to force it back within them, but how?

"Grimm, what will happen if they are apart for to long?" 

Grimm blinked at her flat tone, she herself felt the cold numbness creeping into her thorax, she was distancing her self, a emotional shield slowly building to persevere whatever the outcome in which they were only two possibilities.

"Their body will be devoured by the void and cease to exist, true death, one not even the pale king resurface from, there shade of course will continue to roam until it eventually returns to the abyss"

Hornet nodded silently, Grimm regarded her carefully as she mulled over her options, all the vessels she had slain non had acted so out of character as this.  
  
She had never seen the little ghost's shade, yet apparently they were tameable by force however the seals binding her sibling to life negated that an option, had it been an option the old light would have torn them apart.

Hornet sneered at the thought, the fangs hidden beneath her mask twitching as anger coursed through her again at the gods, those who so selfishly pulled them into their mindless fray, without thought for the wills and despair of any involved.

They were very well lucky she was not of godhood, for she'd see to it both paid in full for their sins against the kingdom they had single handedly burnt to the ground.

* * *

Minutes ticked by, soon drifting into hours, the day was waning and hornet hardly noticed, Brumm had kindly returned with a platter of meat dumplings, and two goblets of some odd but quite enjoyable tea, Applespore he called it, a rare delicacy from the city of springgrove.

He didn't stay long, excusing himself along with the Grimmchild fast asleep within the warm safety of his neck ruff, to let her and the troupe master focus.

it was apparent Grimm would not grant her entry, at least not until she had a valid plan to deal with her sibling's volatile shade, but the resolution had evaded both god and halfling.

Hornet had began pacing, the silence serving to amplify the direness of the situation, hornet wished she had someone she could trust and confide in.

Despite knowing the god before her at a much smaller, dociler stage in his life cycle, the little beast was still just as enigmatic in it's loyalties and ambitions besides her sibling and the god they were host to.

When ghost was faced with a dilemma hornet seldom witnessed them back down, if they had some voice of guidance it was unbeknownst to her, if they indeed had, she would simply have to make due with another disadvantage, but she would at least try to follow their example to the best of her abilities.

The huntress found herself massaging her temples under her mask as she wracked her brain for a solution.

Under the stress, her head had taken to a disastrous throbbing, clear warning signs of an oncoming migraine, every so often they'd plague her as a spiderling but non since, the stasis seemed to have put a stop to them, however that no longer was the case with the shattering of the spell.

The migraine pounded behind her eyes, making thought nigh impossible, it was like sharp thorns sprouting from within her head, trying to expand, threatening to burst out, the pressure was near unbearable.

The hall was silent, the shade ceased it's screaming, the nightmare god watched on quietly, hornet felt the room sway a bit, but caught herself from falling, she felt something warm and wet hit her leg and looked down.

"I think you've exceeded your body's limit for the time being princess" 

the troupe master murmured quietly as hornet stared at the streaks of red leaking from under her mask, staining the shawl's white feathers red, dotted with rare specs of black, she smeared it over her fingers curiously.

It was ice cold unlike anything she had ever felt before, void was thicker then blood the two did not mix, like specs of oil within a cauldron of water.

To think such a foreign substance once flooded her body as it had her sibling's, she couldn't feel it, not like last time, would it have consumed her alive had the the troupe master not intervened?

Hornet was so enthralled in her introspection she failed to notice the nightmare god closing in behind her, it wasn't until his thin arms wrapped around her did she realize to late.

The undignified Squawk that shattered the silence when the troupe master seized her, lifting her from her feet did not origin from hornet, and if one inquired as to who's shriek it was?  
  
She'd simply never admit to it, and if they insisted? she'd stab them. 

"Unhand me this instance, you fiend!" The irate halfling scowled, struggling to get out of the troupe master's grip, only to realize it was impossible, as delicate as his seemingly frail physique feigned, it was like struggling against a pale ore chain, and his grip an unyielding one.

"We will find no answers today my dear, time is of the essence but all is not lost just yet, you need not accept our offer on short notice, and I will continue to aid you in deliberation of the hollow knight's dilemma come morning, the sun has set and your body grows weary with it, do not undo the Nightmare heart's efforts to heal what was broken" 

Grimm chided bemusedly as he began to carry hornet back through the winding halls.

"I'm not Broken!, Your broken!, now unhand me!" Hornet spat indignantly, did the god see her weak?

Did he not realize she fended for herself, fought countless enemies and protected the survivors of a dying kingdom?!

Alone she had survived amongst the dead and infected for decades before the little ghost summoned them to back to Hallownest, she was anything but weak! 

Hornet cloud have challenged him, sunk her fangs into his thorax, forced him to set her down, and let the warrior walk with her dignity, but every time she moved her head would gave a vicious throb, so instead she listened to reason and silently nursed her migraine in silence, leaving behind the metal door and her sibling behind it.

If their shade cried out for her she could not hear it, not over the pounding blood in her ears, she watched the room shrink as they ascended past the rehearsal corridors, they were all empty save for a few stragglers, cleaning equipment or setting up props, the main stage abandoned as the troupe master had abandoned them for the time being to tend to the huntress.

The same went for the dining hall, which was devoid of life, the torches dimmed or snuffed out entirely, giving the room a desolate feel, how much time had passed?

She had lost so much time to the stasis, that she was far beyond disassociated with the flow of time, it's sudden reemergence was almost as confusing as learning a foreign language, was it really so late?

"How do you know it's sunset?" 

The halfing asked without thought, curiosity about the changes of the stasis's absences triggered, she had never seen this so-called sun but she knew a to well of its existence, and how her father robbed had them of it with his magic, convinced in his paranoid fear it's connection to the old light would fuel her wrath.

"Because I can feel the moon" The Troupe master didn't move to acknowledge her question save for the soft wistful godspeak, it was obvious his mind was elsewhere, eyes staring off into the empty halls as he paced towards his room.

From her angle in his arms, hornet could part of his lower jaw and neck, she could just make out a nasty scar marring his neck plates, crawling up from below his collar, it contrasted starkly against the black shell, where had it come from?

Something told Hornet it was best not inquire about it, even if it struck her curiosity.

"The moon? What is that? In Deepnest we only know of the sun's wreath through news of Hallownest, things that don't directly influence our well being were often looked upon, As trivial to those dwelling so deep beneath the surface"

Hornet asked instead, she had never heard of it before, Deepnest was located deep below the surface, and seldom one traveled far from it's origins, few involved themselves with the trivialities of the surface world unless it directly involved Deepnest, which was still very seldom, hornet learned of the sun through books and Monomon's teachings but even that was scarce in details.

"The moon...It is the brother to the sun, much as she is his sister, they govern the skies, keeping balance over the world since the dawn of creation, alas they can never meet as siblings should, for their domains, so different lie at constant odds of each other, so after eons of strife, pain, and heartache their ferocity escalated far past necessary resulting in the near destruction of one, then it was established the moon would rule the night and it's shadows, whilst his dear beloved sister invoked the dawn with her light, they once thrived with the same strength as the she but in truth, the wounds of a god never truly heal..."

Hornet stayed silent as the god of the night spoke of his origins, she saw clear the truth wrapped in the guise of a tragic tale, but a truth non the less, he had answered both of the halfling questions, the one as had asked and the one she hesitated to.

It was in that moment she understood, many truths about the troupe and why it was, a beckoning to the unwanted, frowned upon, it fed on the rejected and fueled its flames, what else was a banished god to do?

If that why the nightmare heart wanted her smaller sibling, what did it mean for them..?

Were they all just the unwanted by product of a calamity passed years ago?

Still desperately holding onto life in a world that all but used them and saw fit to forget them, the hurt the truth invoked burned inside hornet's chest fiercer then any aspid's acid.

Her head throbbed, with dulled pounding, even still it had simmered down much now that she was being carried and not maniacally pacing on her feet.

The two had seemed to achieve a common ground, their souls were safe and the nightmare heart sated, there was much to do, choices to make, but for now that could all wait, wait for her to find an answer, one she didn't know where to look for.

Hornet refused to acknowledge anything else before she dealt with her sibling's plight, She had sacrificed much throughout the years, even things she didn't know she had, all in the name of Hallownest... for once Hallownest in all it's dire circumstances would wait.

The hall begin winding to it's end, she found she didn't quite mind the troupe master, at least when he wasn't talking or grinning like a fiend, the silence wasn't intrusive or awkwardly stiff, it was a comfortable pause, one where words wern't expected from either party, only the distant sound of a lone accordion's baleful tune filling the empty hall.

  
Grimm held her close, in a protective manner, very much similar to like he did with his spawn, the thought that she was triggering his maternal instinct felt...well odd.

Still It was plain to see Grimm had seemed to take a liking to carrying the huntress around, a deep rumbling noise resonated from the god's thorax, the god was purring obviously pleased with her acceptance of his aid.

It should not have subdued the huntress but she found her nerves had released their tension without her even realizing it, much to her annoyance, and it summoned even more of her ire that she felt safe were she was.

It was like the nightmare flames were trying to disarm her against the troupe master, and she was too exhausted to fight them, so she tolerated being toted around by the god who seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil.

When they entered his chambers the lights were already dimmed darker then they already where when she left that morning, the scent of lilac and cardamom incense filled the air with a calm and soothing atmosphere.

Exhaustion gripped hornet like a vice, her head swam, no matter how much she fought it, the moment he laid her against the silk pillows she found her body itself resigning to sleep.

"I..I'll find the solution tomorrow, I have to"

Hornet murmured more to herself then anyone, but Grimm responded in kind, his tail flicking idly at his side.

"And I'm sure you will, rest now fierce one" 

Grimm whispered, his voice but a whips of smoke in the silent room, and hornet would have, had the huntress not caught sight of the intense leer of the nightmare god, it was one she was familiar with yet hadn't seen in countless years.

She watched him back, through narrowed sleepy eyes, she could see a battle waging war in his posture as he fought his instincts, there was a tense moment when his eye blinked slowly, squinting down at her, and she saw resolve in his bright red eyes, she did not like it.

"Grimm N-" hornet warned as the god stepped closer to the bed, the bed didn't even dip under his weight as he leaned against it.

Hornet screeched when the god suddenly leaned forward, sensing his Intentions, hornet jerked back and glared up at him hissing, prepared to beat the god senseless with his own silken pillow if he attempted to go through with it anyways, she would not be humiliated in such a manner, and if he tried she would go down kicking and fighting.

However her reaction was enough to halt the god who simply burst out in a hysterically amused cackle at the bristling halfling.

"You and my child are much alike, tell me what is it that leads you to think a proper grooming is the end of the world? So un-gratuitous it is to attack someone with their own property princess" He spoke fondly, obviously amused by the angry princes.

Hornet just gazed her hardest back at him, had the fool no sense of personal boundaries?!

Grooming was a secret rite among the siblings of Deepnest, she would not tolerate it from a cryptic and clingy god, with little to no standards!

"I shell not be groomed like a grub!" The huntress growled.

hornet hardly realized she was still brandishing a silken pillow as if it were a nail, but didn't have the heart to drop, it lest he attempt to groom her again.

"Fine, stay filthy, have it your way"

Grimm tsked, as he spun around, moving away from her to hover by one of the many glowing torches, she followed his path to find his spawn hanging from the bottom most bar, sound asleep.

  
"Grimm...?" The huntress asked despite not really recalling what she wanted to ask, her mind muffled with a confusing blur of exhaustion and unrest, her previous ire burning out as soon as the god started drifting around the room.

"What is it darling..?" The troupe master inquired absently as he detached a sleeping Grimmchild from one of the suspended flame torch's bases.

He carried their sleeping form to the bed and settled them down beside her, hornet didn't mind the pet name in her tired haze, maybe she would have had she had more energy to consider it, but she hadn't,

Instead she sleepily dragged the sleeping child into her arms, pulling them protectively against her thorax much like she had to the dying devouts in the darkest days of Deepnest's fall, it felt nice to hold someone again, she never had a chance to get familiar enough with ghost to do this, not after the way they met.

She used to dream of being held by her mother, or her sibling or even her father on rare night, safe and protected..loved, but years of solitude soured those fantasies for hornet, tainted them with the harshness of reality.

Despite everything they were, god, child or vessel, she could feel the being in her arms, purring unbeknownst to the waking world was loved..much like she had been for a short time in her life.

She watched as they snuggled appreciatively against the feathery feathers, unable to resist the soft down even in their sleep, she wondered if Grimm also had an affinity for down.

"What is this made out of?, and where is my red shawl...?"

"It is the down scavenged from the corpse of a harpy, rare as it is to find, they are said to roam the skies purely at the peak of the moon" 

Hornet stared down at the droplets of blood marring the mottled white feathers, a twinge of guilt crawled its way over her shell, she had never bothered with such luxurious attire, but it was plain to see the elegant shawl was expensive if not priceless, and she had ruined it, stained it with blood...

Grimm paused, silently staring down at her with contemplation, his red eyes widening in realization of the source of the halfing's distress.

"Worry not princess, the harpies are predatory beasts, the blood wont stain, if it had that white would most certainly not be as pure as it is, so rest assured, divine will handle it come dawn" 

"And my shawl? Was it destroyed?"  
Hornet asked with uncertainty, the idea of the priceless heirloom tattered and shredded, discarded and forgotten, made hornet's stomach twitch with unease.

"Unfortunately I must inform you,  
the shade has it, I'm sorry but it would be unattainable, volatile as they are i thrust none to be exempt from its wrath, do you not like your new shawl..?"

Grimm asked titling his head, she couldn't tell if he was offended or not by the idea she preferred her old garment, but in truth she needed it replaced for years, fear of letting go of the last remnants of Herrah, and her heritage scared her into rejecting any of the abandoned clothes in the city of tears.

"The shawls fine, its just my shawl's been past down through generations...i just, i can't bear losing it.."

Hornet unconsciously gripped the purring Grimmchild tighter, her heart ached at the thought of her ruined cloak shredded by the enraged shade.

  
"Hm..I'm sure it will be fine, shades have little interest in inanimate objects, we should be able to obtain it after the vessel is restored to its normal state, and for that to happen you need to rest, I bid you good night princess"

  
"Wait mine...?" Hornet asked in dumb confusion, to which the troupe master smirked fondly, but his eyes held a far off look to them, she could see the gears in his head working again, whatever had his mind preoccupied seemed very demanding of his attention, despite this he still clarified his previous statement.

"Princess, I may look dashing in everything, but i was never one for white, I insist it would be of more use in your possession, lest it rot in one of my many wardrobes "

  
The troupe master's reassuring confidence soothed hornet's nerves and she found herself settling down again, the Grimmchild murred sleepily in her grip, its scaled tail wrapping around her arm subconsciously as they huddled closure.

Despite herself, she found them adorable, at least when they weren't being a mischievous little hellion.

It brought to mind a question she had been meaning to ask, which she quickly did seeing as the god was dimming the lights almost entirely snuffing them out.

"Grimm is there a reason to why your spawn sleeps with me and not you?

"I am useless to them as I do not dream, my spawn is tasked with feeding on bad dreams, they are a dream eater, one who serves as the barrier between you and the nightmares that live within the shadows of this tent, if not they would have eaten a mortal bug alive" 

The nightmare god had drifted to the door and was preparing to leave, while hornet processed his words, staring down at her small companion with new enlightenment.

Grimm shut the door, leaning the room dim and quiet, but not before leaving with parting words.

"Hornet, I hope you come to trust me, rare as it is, your sibling treated me kind in my time in their care, loved me even I would dare claim...even if you don't accept us, the troupe's gratitude extends to you in their absence, we wont reside here long, but as long as we do, no harm shell come to you or your sibling in the troupe's care" 

And there it was, the truth rooted beyond all the masks, finally hornet found it, and For one hornet believed him.

* * *

That night hornet's sleep was void of anything, no nightmares nor dreams... Until it wasn't.

There was a sound a distinct sound of a heartbeat accompanied by a dense darkness...but even that began to fade until it was almost to bright to see, hornet had to cover her eyes lest her glowing surroundings blind her, when she dared uncover them it was with uncertain squinted eyes.

Bright as it was her eyes adjusted quickly to the glow if her past home, the long forgotten pale palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grimm: we'er allies now? great let me groom you!
> 
> Hornet: i will stab you heathen
> 
> The next chapters dialogue heavy and frankly going to bw a confusing mess but it will directly address hornet's dream sequence in chapter two with PV 8T
> 
> Should be up within a few days ...maybe


	5. White Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In long forgotten lies, A once buried truth demands it's presence known.
> 
> Hornet is forced to accept what is truly her birthright.
> 
> Chapter music: https://youtu.be/2cWu_ow99Wk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hornet: jumps out window
> 
> Hollow: Triggered

The pristine white halls were ominously empty, not a soul could be found nor heard, the dark shadows of the half light giving the background already devoid of color a steely monochromatic air.

Hornet followed the shadows like she always had, unlike most of the inhabitants of the white palace, she she lived without fear of the dark, preferred it even.

The Halfling was taught at a young age that dangers may reside within the shadows, but a real monsters need not hide in the dark.

Darkness was many bug's enemy but few realized the ally it truly was, few but those of Deepnest blood. 

Her calloused hands slid over the marble and steel wall designs, the Hallownest royal crest prominent over much of the old inscriptions itched into the otherwise smooth surfaces.

She hadn't been here in ages...

But somehow it all looked the same, nothing had changed, as she descended down winding corridor after corridor a sound caught on the air, it was the distinct sound of grinding metal.

Hornet followed the noise but could never actually pinpoint it's origin, room after empty room she searched to no avail, was the white palace always this big? 

The halls seemed to stretch on forever but somehow She could still find the rooms she had distinctly remembered.

She visited many old rooms, as if plucked from her memory, they were just as she had last seen them, clean and dustless.

She lingered in her nursery, content to remember brighter days in her life, so long ago she had resided here, she could hardly recall how it felt to be held within the white lady's roots.

Hornet stared at the window beside her cradle, the impulse to shrink away from it still held fast in her mind, she could remember with absolute clarity the incident that had almost cost her life.

A foolish stunt in which she had childishly plotted her escape back to Deepnest, there was no particular reason for this outburst, hornet was simply intolerant of Hallownest and it's inferior inhabitants.

She did not want to part with her mother, and upon realizing she had no other choice but to for the time being, she had arrived in a foul mood, one that only escalated as the days dragged on.

Hornet made sport of finding life within the palace unbearable for even the slightest inconveniences, much like vindictive children often did.

And one night after waking hours had passed, when no soul was afoot, hornet had attempted to scale the palace wall using silk, a large feat for such a small spiderling as herself, but even in her young adolescents hornet was ever rebellious in the face of danger.

Back then Hornet was oblivious to the savage nest of metal serrated brambles that clung to the palace walls, and reached up from the ground below, preventing anyone or anything from scaling it's walls or breaching the palace from behind.

The pale king demanded privacy, and surly any bug stupid enough to not heed his warning found their end impaled or slowly bleeding to death, both an equally painful demise , one that could of been his daughter's fate as well.

When she jumped, her fragile lifeline of silk was immediately snagged on a a metal thorn and snapped, sending the spiderling hurtling down towards the nest of brambles below.

Yes, she could recall the uncertainty of those precious seconds of free falling, the wind whipping past her, stinging her teary eyes, as her small hands grabbed for silk that couldn't save her.

Wondering if she'd die from the impact or if the thorns would impale her to death, what would the pale king think when he found her broken body?

She was certain she would die but she hadn't, instead she found herself in the icy grip of the hollow knight, their cape flapped majestically as they used a single arm to parry off the spined tendrils just as it seemed the two were doomed to fall, they dashed towards the wall.

Their sharp claws clicking against the marble and they slid down for but a heartbeat before they launched themselves upward,

They scaled the wall with easy all the way back up and into the opened window, immediately slamming it shut behind them with a jittery hand.

At the time, she hadn't recognised their jerky movement as anything but mechanical, the pale king had insistently and successfully drilled into her young head that the vessel was nothing but a hollow shell.

When they finally set the spiderling down she was in a state of awe and shock, what were they doing there?

Hadn't they been stationed in their room for the night? She had been told they never acted without command, unless someone requested they save her...

But no one else had come to greet them once they emerged in her room, further more the way the vessel seemed to leered down at her felt very menacing, and held very little of the emptiness her father had claimed made up their being.

She shrunk from their gaze and turned to flee, only for them to grab her roughly, it was startling to say the least, hornet almost shrieked as their large hands almost covered her whole head.

Despite her struggles, they were futile against the large vessel, as their cold claws had deadlocked on her shoulder and horn.

She was forced to stare into their mask, only when she ceased her struggling, energy worn down did she hear it, a low whispering in her head, it sounded like multiple echoed voices raising in intensity the more she listened, all talking at once, in wonder she stared into her sibling's mask as they whispered harshly to her.

"Siblings fall! broken dead! Abandoned! forgotten! Gone!"

The words were sharp and clipped, they forced their way into her mind with the familiar urgency of a frightened parent, the vessel visibly looked the spiderling over before they continued on,

"Stay.. safe...Sibling" the vessel visibly calmed,deflated even, their grip on the spiderling slackening, the voices hissed on, overlapping one another in a confusing dance.

For a moment there was a pain, mild but deep rooted within her mind, accompanied by a flash of white, and then the vessel let her go altogether.

Hornet understood they were upset with her, just as shaken as she was from her near death experience, after that she had cried for hours, hidden in the safety of the vessel's cape.

They did not remove her, but they also did not outwardly comfort her as many bugs would have, but she understood they weren't like normal bugs, alien to most but still the closest to hornet in as many ways that distinctly separates them both from others.

She hated to let others see her cry, but now she understood the pure vessel was her sibling, and even in silence she could feel comfort in the cold presence of her sibling, a stoic guardian watching over her.

That night she had deemed the knight her older sibling, and even bestowed upon the vessel a name, for a creature of void or not, her older sibling was never truly hollow.

This was also the first and only time the vessel had forced it's will upon her, and even now she wasn't sure if it was childhood's enamourment or if the hollow knight was really capable of thrall, or whatever it was that instigated the aversion of ever touching the window again.

Hornet recalled how serious Harrah considered her childish plan to "rightfully kidnap" her sibling from the clutches of the white palace, and spirit them away into hiding deep within Deepnest.

The memories burned, as the calls of the shade seemed to echo throughout the room, was it guilt? would all her memories doomed to be tainted with the future's misgivings?

She stayed as long as she could bear it, then left the silver lined room and beautiful painful memories.

The sound of metal once again filled hornet's ears, as her footsteps brought her to a ascending staircase, leading up past the retainer's corridors and to the top level, she profoundly remembers the pale king banning her from ever trespassing up there, but she continued with little heed, the palace seemed empty, who was to stop her now?

Kingsmoulds hung in the air unmoving, yet suspended by unseen forces as if frozen in time, she walked past them quickly, unlike her sibling, the king's void constructs always rubbed her wrong.

She notices inscriptions flickering to life beside her as she paced down the hall, strange symbols pulsating a pale glow of power before fizzling out and vanishing.

The sounds of grinding metal died away as she left the main halls behind, replace by a quiet clanking noise, it hung heavy in the air, cutting though the deafening silence, it demanded to be followed, the huntress complied easily, a primal urge under hornet's shell willed her so, leading her into the dark as if lead by a fragile string of silk.

She breached dark halls and corridors once forbidden from her to explore, she discovered a room at the bottom of a long descending staircase, it looked to be one of the many workshops the king possessed.

It was a small room dimly lit, the single lumafly lantern stood as frozen as the constructs, tools and other contraptions no doubt to aid the king in construction littered the floor haphazardly around a modest work table.

The wooden table was stained with void, and scattered with shell bits and armour, a cup of peachfern tea left cold and forgotten instead used as a paper weight to hold dozens of hastily drawn blueprints and notes fasted to the table.

What sent a wave of apprehension through hornet was that the cup looked to be only hours old, there was no dust, on it, or on anything? Was everything frozen in time in this weird stasis?

If she was dreaming surely she should have awakened by now, at least now that hornet was actively aware she was doing so, but she could not, and the fear rose within her as a traitorous thought crossed her mind, had she caught the dreaming sickness?!

Was the radiance not dead? Or did her infection still linger even after her death? Could a god really ever die?

A loud clanking noise, yanked hornet from her reverie as she gripped her needle, she followed the origins of the sound into another workshop, much the same but in much worse conditions, accompanying the void splatters, was another substance marring the table.

It was silvery blue, like iridescent oil, it reflected light off its congealed surface, the strong smell of water and earth clung to it, whatever it was the king had been using it in access, it seeped off the table and onto the marble floor, puddles half sopped by towels left abandoned, as the pale king started again on whatever the focus of his current progress was.

Hornet didn't like the room, something unsettling clung to it, a meaning she didn't understand, a foreign feeling she couldn't pinpoint, she continued her search more then relieved to leave the messy room and its secrets behind.

The next room unlike the others was covered in webs, dust covered almost everything, there was a distinct staleness in the air, it was a dark room, alight with a faint but familiar glow, hornet was shocked to find such a faint light coming from non other then the pale king himself.

He was seated at a work bench, his back to the huntress, and head rested against the sleeve of his royal robe, it was something he did often when the white lady could not coax him out of his workshop, only for him to run out of energy mere hours later. 

Watching him felt like a memory, should she have woke him?, would he be mad she entered his personal corridors against his authority?

Hornet felt a rare sense of uncertainty as she stared at the god responsible for striping her of every single thing she loved.

Hornet's knuckles creaked as she clinched her claws, in the early, lonelier years of her position as a sentinel, hornet would often indulge in the countless scenarios that she had found her father again, how she'd give the reckless wyrm a piece of her mind

But now? Her brain was a blank slate, her heart pumping erratically within her low thorax as the thought of confronting the bane of her existence was suddenly all too real.

No, Hornet couldn't, she wasn't ready for this, nor would she ever be, for the first time in her life hornet found herself shamelessly back paddling, fleeing in sheer cowardice if it meant avoiding the situation, but as she backed away her back met with the cool surface of the palace walls.

Startled, hornet flinched, the huntress's needle clattering to the floor, the sound obnoxiously loud in the silent workshop, she glared angrily down at her needle's betrayal.

"Hornet? you've finally decided to grace me with your presences?"

Hornet's heart paused as she stood face to face with her father, she knew she should have replied but words would not form in her mind, as if they shriveled and died in her throat.

"Must you make sport of making others wait? Your tea has already chilled and I shell not be requesting a fresh batch if you insist to carry on so!"

His voice sounded the same as it always had, smooth and calm even when he was actively chiding.

"Hornet..?"

When he received no reply he leaned up away from the table he had been sprawled at and turned towards the huntress making her heart freeze, 

"Hm, you've grown so much bigger child, I daresay you may exceed me in height one day, Even so its to be expected with your heritage" the king chuckled as he appraised her, it was a fake noise, one formulated for the benefit of others rather then the king himself.

Hornet had heard it many times when the king had given public speeches, or held social gathers for Hallownest's benefit.

More often then not, the halfling found it almost creepy how easily bugs took to the wyrm's thin facade, throwing their trust and fates into his claws with little to no rhyme or reason, had his intentions been less benevolent, it would surly have been a tragedy to behold.

"Come here I shell not raise my voice because you insist on lingering in doorways like a shivering termite!" 

The king snapped tiredly with no heat, on auto pilot hornet moved to step forward, only to stop as a figure paced through her, she watched in shock as a much smaller version of herself passed through her thorax, walking to stand beside the work table.

"Why have you summoned me here?! I do not wish to study your insignificant sciences, they hold no value to Deepnest, and it sheln't hold value to me!"

The spiderling spat heatedly, the venom in her shrill young voice was filled with unbridled fury, it caught hornet off guard, was she always this angry?

And did she really sound this unnerving as a spiderling?, the thought made hornet want to cringe.

Furthermore, while she distinctively recalled the days after the vessel's sealing and her mother's binding, she could not recall this conversation or meeting at all, even the room was foreign to her.

"I hope you realized you've informed me of this previously, have you not? but tell me, how will you rule anything save for your ego without the proper teaching? A kingdom is not built over night, nor is a matriarch, I made your mother a promise to prepare you for the throne and i intend to see it through."

The king's words were clipped, and dismissive in the face of her ire, as if he expected her to swallow her loss, to grow up and accept their sacrifice was for the greater good.

" I will claim the throne with or without the tampering of you, and your soft and sheltered people!" The spiderling's voice dripped with thinly veiled contempt.

Back then hornet had not, it hurt, a pain beyond suffering, but that pain was left to fester, it grew hideously so, and manifested itself in the shell of fury.

She had lashed out at anything she could, thinking back on it, if Hallownest had survived long enough for the huntress to claim the throne of Deepnest...

"But to do it properly you will need a guide!, I will teach you, unless you plan to run your kingdom into ruin!"

The wyrm stated cooly, his gossamer wings twitching his irritation instead.

"But you've already done that, have you not? what good is the word of a king who failed protect his people? you preach knowledge of the future of deep nest as if it were not just a pawn in one of your many in schemes, as if the only interest you had wasn't to usurp our queen!"

The small halfling sneered.

-She would have raged war, cities would have burned, lives would have been sacrificed on her vendetta against the pale wyrm.

She would have stopped at nothing to obtain the kingdom of Hallownest and then she would have destroyed it.

"Hornet ther-.. There was no other way, your mother's sealing was necessary, she did it to protect you and Deepnest as well!"

It was an ugly truth, a stain on her being she wasn't sure if she inherited her thirst for destruction from the pale king or Harrah, but a part of her being non the less.

"Dirt carver Bile!" The red faced spat

She watched as her smaller more naive self screamed back and forth with her father, their voices blurring into the sound of grinding metal, if she knew what Hornet did now, non of this would matter.

The supposed Pure vessel would eventually fall, the infection would break free and everything would be reduced into rubble within the matter of a year, even the king and his radiant palace would vanish into thin air, all of Hallownest would be drowned in pain and misery until it was but a husk of the once glorious kingdom.

But She didn't try to stop them, she couldn't she was but a spectre in this dream she couldn't wake from.

"I've had enough of your mouth child! if you seek to learn anything besides how many insults you can think up on a whim, come find me, if not, you know the way out, I have little time for this!" 

The king hissed, his wings flicking tiredly as he threw his hands up in defeat, obviously fed up, and reaching the end of his patience, he turned and started towards the doorway.

This was how many of their conversations ended, both sides of the party unwilling to even try to understand each other.

There was a tense moment as the small spiderling stood her ground, victorious but alone in the dark workshop, hands clenched and chest huffing with exertion.

Hornet could see her brain working as she contemplated swallowing her pride, now that her father had retreated and the smoldering ire simmered down enough for logic to take root.

In order to be queen she'd have to learn, accept that it would be unavoidable that she would rule someday, Deepnest would be hers to protect, and shape as she saw fit.

But to do that she would need someone to teach her, with a hiss of frustration the spiderling followed her father out of the room, leaving the Sentinel alone in the empty room.

The sound of grinding metal had manifested again, louder then before, it grinded on her ears and drowned out all other sounds, despite everywhere she looked, hornet could not pinpoint the source.

The room was dark in absence of her father, the tea and papers abandoned untill he had the mind to come back to them, she'd best follow them, figure out the reasoning behind this odd dream lest she be trapped within it's folds forever.

On her way out Hornet noticed the same mysterious substance staining spots on the table, whatever this new substance the king was experimenting with was, it seemed unnatural.

It clung to the table in congealed pools refusing to be absorbed by the wood, how it hadn't stained his cloak was beyond her, but she decided she did not like it, the musky scent smelled wrong, previously she assumed it to be the room but no, whatever this liquid was, it ignited anxiety beneath her shell.

Hornet quickly followed her past self outside the door, but when she stepped past the threshold, the sight she witnessed made her halt

Before her, laid her father sprawled out against the marble floor, his white robes splattered and stained blue, hornet felt a jolt of realization struck her, eyes widening at the puddles of blue creeping out from under the pristine white fabric.

Beside him, the small spiderling was panicking, unsure of what to do, she shook him desperately trying to wake her father to no avail.

Hornet didn't know how to feel, she had never seen the king as anything but powerful and awe imposing, seeing the once powerfully god weak filled hornet with a confusing flurry of emotions.

She was certain he wasn't dead, surly he couldn't be, at least if this was a memory...but even these moments were foreign to her, yet the more she stared at the king's stained robes the more they seemed familiar...

It was all so confusing, the huntress reached forward hesitantly to touch the unresponsive wyrm, if only to check for a pulse, but the moment her claw touched his cool shell she was in a different room.

it was dimly lit, save for the bright lighting of the pale king, she could only just make out the smaller spiderling's silhouette through the shadow.

There young hornet stood, eyes narrowed with wonder as she looked over a pale glowing parchment pinned to a wooden tapestry.

Were her and the Pale King's eyes always so much alike?

The parchment was beautiful, the inscriptions all in Hallownest's italic lined fragile the thin silk paper, its bioluminscent ink flaring brightly in the dark.

Hornet marvelled the kings, penmanship, the diagrams were beautifully drawn, itched with precision and certainty, even if some of it was illegible scribbles, diagrams and blueprints of the city's architecture.

She didn't understand much of the king's chicken scratch but the information seemed of high importance to him.

The young spiderling looked up to the pale king with a weary question in her eyes, only then hornet realized he was speaking, his sharp gaze like intent as he pointed out details on the parchment, important no doubt, but she could not hear them.

Hornet could hear nothing past the grinding metal noise, but the sound had eventually graduated into a loud grinding noise.

it was starting to make her head pound, what was the meaning behind this dream? Why did it feel so real, was it was a memory? If so why couldn't she recall it? 

The huntress puzzled, her questions urgently prodding at her, yet the answer remained elusive.

What happened to the king? Did he wake? 

This felt like a totally different instance in time, Here the king looked perfectly fine, his light as bright and illuminating as always, not the sickly dim hue he was struggling to emit in his workshop.

They were in one of the king's many private studies, there he often tutored the young spiderling, the whole scene was rank with familiarity, however hornet could not for her life pin a date or time to it.

The weight of anxiety, was growing heavier and heavier as the seconds ticked by, but while the dream was disturbing hornet was more frustrated then scared, the huntress understood full well that nightmares could not harm ones physical form and only served to haunt dreams.

she did not understand why she felt this fear so profoundly, yet still it was inherently hers, a fear familiar yet misplaced in time.

This fear, it wasn't what she was feeling at all, at least not in the general sense.

She looked to the small spiderling beside her, the young spider was jittering, the weight of some unforseen burden heavy on her shoulders, it was a splitting image of herself, long ago when she was tasked with preserving the bodies of her people in silk, preparing them for burial.

The spiderling's plight went unnoticed by her father as the pale king continued to explain details on the parchments.

Slowly the drowning background noise faded with understanding, her father's voice filled her ears again, the bustling sounds of a living palace shattering dreary silence that filled its halls previously.

"-And this small town is called dirt mouth, it had initially been decided to be a storage port, but its close proximity to the black egg made it unsuitable for that kind of traffic, we've yet to find proper use for it, or its citizens as of yet but - child? Are listening at all?" 

The Wyrm asked in a irked tone,noticing for the first time the spiderling's attentions had stayed. 

"Will the infection, cease now that my mother is sealed with the pure vessel...?"

The young spiderling questioned instead, her question but a whisper rang out into the silent room, the king paused for a beat, expression unreadable, untill he answered his voice calm and even.

"The light will be contained by the vessel and the dreamers, with their sacrifice Hallownest will last eternal"

Instead of calming the spiderling, she seemed to bristle at the wyrm's words, she pulled back and stared him down with a fevered look in her eyes.

"But how can you be so sure?"

The distressed spiderling's voice started rising in pitch as her hysteria skyrocketed, her claws digging into the parchment beneath her.

Seeing the pale king hesitated contemplating the child before him, eventually he sighed not with irritence but resignation, the subject was diverted, this would be the end of their lesson and no god or being required foresight to know that.

"My foresight has seen it so, there is no future for the light beyond the abyss of void that serves as her prison, you must trust that the pure vessel will protect Hallownest with it life, that is its purpose, what has brought upon such thoughts..?" 

The king's voice was soft, in contrast to his usual steely air, soothing even, his pale hands had found the spiderling's back, and had begin rubbing rhythmic circles into the her shell in hopes of calming her down.

It felt comforting, hornet recalled it so, yet how she did not know, it made hornet's stomach twist with a confusing feeling, a wave of longing as she watched him and her smaller self.

"A...a dream i saw, it was gone destroyed!, what if your foresight is wrong?! how do you know they wont fail? what if she breaks free? what if the light kills them all?!" 

The king paused his ministrations at the young spider's words, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the halfling, 

"A dream you say? Perhaps it was just a nightmare, do you still fear dreams even after you leave them behind to wake? tell me what happened in this dream?"

The pale king's words were calm as always but they seemed distracted, as his piecing eyes studied his daughter, hornet could tell he was looking for something but what she couldn't tell what it was.

"He was so scared, the chains they crumbled...s-she killed them, dead all dead! She consumed them, everything! She consumes all" 

The Halfling did not cry, even if her chest heaved with stifled sobs, she looked devastated, it reminded hornet too much of the days leading to that hollow knight's sealing, she had to turn away when she saw the tears finally begin to run down the spiderling's face.

"What ills you my child? Are you not well? why has this nightmare shaken you so?" 

To the huntress's surprise the wyrm hugged the child, even more surprised, it was even more shocking that she could recall just how cool and safe his robes were, much like hiding within the safety of the pure vessel's cape.

"Your don't understand, I felt it! they died, he's dying!" The way the spiderling clung to her father made Hornet's stomach lurch.

The pale king's hand still stroked his child's shell, but his eyes were hard and cold, cast of and staring into space, when He spoke his voice was alight with the same false pleasantries the wyrm used to placate his royal retainers.

"Fear not child it was but a dream! the vessel is far more powerful then you can imagine, he- It cannot die, as it was never alive to begin with... but a shell inhibited by soul and void, now come... look at me" 

There was an odd lilt in the king's voice, a tone she never heard before, it drew the huntress closer as he raised his child's face to meet his.

The moment black eyes met black, there was a spark, a small flicker of light as white seal crackled to life banishing whatever magic the king had attempted to weave, the king paused for a heartbeat stunned.

Whatever it was it halted the king before he continued, a look if horror flashed over his face for but a second before it was replaced by an unreadable expression.

The wyrm doubled his efforts, the spiderling's eyes dilated while the wyrm's pupils constricted much like hornet had seen the nightmare.

They stood eyes locked but only for a moment before a white spark erupted between the two and he jerked his claws away from the spiderling's face, his blank mask falling into what looked like tired relief.

Hornet squinted at her younger self as the small spider gazed vacantly into nothing, eventually she slumped forward for a moment, swaying unsteadily before perking back up, as if waking from a spell.

The spiderling blinked dazedly, before slowly looking around the study curiously before resting on her father confusedly, she was at the moment blank...

there was no sign of her prior distress, nothing at all, It was like her mind was swept clean of the whole instance...

Hornet wanted to confront the wyrm, demand he tell her what he did and why, but she couldn't she was only a visitor here and held as much sway as a ghost.

But the huntress's suspicions were quickly confirmed when the spiderling inquired how she got there, still disoriented and confused as her mind fell prey to the king's thrall.

"I sent a kingsmould to fetch you this morning, but it seems you've fallen asleep again child, do my lectures bore you so much?" 

The king's dismissive tone, revealed little of what was going through the wyrm's mind, his face was relaxed and untroubled, even after he had just wiped his own child's mind.

Hornet's blood boiled, she was furious, how dare he use his filthy thrall on her! wipe away her fears as if they were just a mere inconvenience to him and his selfish goals!?

Much to her horror hornet recalled this day with utmost clarity, the embarrassment she felt when she thought herself so tired she could hardly remember her lecture, In reality the wyrm had robbed her of the memories, and replaced them with lies!

The sound of grating metal filled her ears and once again she was thrown into darkness, and she was back outside the wyrm's mind, in the room he had collapsed, the room was distorted and beginning to crumble, the corners of the room had began to frill up and curls at their seams.

In the middle of the the room the king was sitting up, had he awakened while she was in his dream?

The young halfling was encircled safely in his arms, the tears that stained her mask hardly rivaled the blue that stained his white robe, she did not have to see his eyes to know he had just wiped the child's mind again...her mind.

The room was shrinking more and more by the seconds, consuming darkness, no void swiftly devoured the pale wyrm and the image of her smaller self, Soon she too was consumed by the all encompassing darkness.

But hornet did not fear the darkness, even in its vest desilence there was peace, a stillness the waking world wouldn't and could not offer.

In that tranquility hornet found a light, in the manifestation of chains, they were pure white and in every way radiant, they rooted themselves within the dark, a writhing mass, rapidly coiling over and under each other, like the frenzied tentacles of an enraged UuMUU.

The source of the sound, it was beautiful and familiar in everyway, in sense and sound, their vibrations called to her like an old friend, yet their song of grating metal, had haunted Hornet for years.

"What is this place?" Hornet wondered, around her the void rippled and twirled, there was an ominous red glow, almost entirely hidden within the shadows but she could see it, a scarlett aura twisting and twirling within the void with ease.

Immediately the huntress recognised the nightmare flame hiding within her, was that it? 

Was she trapped within herself? Was there that much void still trapped within her body? And even so, what was that? 

Cautiously, hornet drew closure to the large mass of chains, its light called out to her and her instincts answered, she needed to free them the light, whatever it was, part of her feared it was the old light, that freeing it would undo all the work that many had died to ensure.

But no, the light was familiar and it was part of her, whatever it was it needed to be free!

Hornet filled with determination reached out and gripped the chains, pulling with all her strength, they pulsed against her claws, yielding like organic arteries instead of iron, they tore and bled of hot blue luminescence.

Around the huntress the void jumped to life, shadows that once seemed docile, and stagnate shot towards the halfling, tendrils like gnarled blades, reaching out for her and the last pillar of light in the abyss. 

It was if it was just waiting for an opening, a weak spot to strike, one that she had inadvertently given it, quickly hornet yanked at the remaining chains, the hot blood seared it's way through her carapace, eating its way into her shell, it hurt like bathing in aspid's venom, yet she did not stop, she couldn't.

She pulled until her bleeding arms screamed against her, she pulled as the shadows rose up to devour her light, she pulled as the grating metal Screeched and finally it snapped.

And the king's seal shattered and the light vanished.

The scarlet light jumped to life, flames surging past the void, hornet flinched as she was engulfed in flames, the smell of singed fabric and ash filled her lungs as she was swept off her feet and into the darkness, the flames seared her shell, her flesh bubbling under her shell yet she felt no pain.

She was forced upward on the spiral of hellfire, thousands of leathery wings beating against her shell, as the flames surged forward with the halfling into the darkness.

The void tendrils pursued close behind, tailing the flames with a ravenous ferocity, flooding and consuming everything in its path, hornet could feel the cold bite she had come to associate with void sinking into her shell.

It sought to consume her, and the light she possessed, extinguish it and she could not allow that, her shell was glowing dimly with runes, intricate and beautiful, she could not recall if the hollow knight shared this marks, but these felt her own, as if they were an unspoken name marred upon her shell.

The runes spoke to her, silent but urging, she closed her eyes and followed their call, when she opened them she was in Deepnest.

The void and searing flames gone, she was bathed in the dim light of the sparse glowing mushrooms the peeked out from any stone they could root themselves to.

The sound of grinding resonated through the chittering and scuttling sounds of her kingdom, she followed it.

Easily scaling her wau up the wall, her past fatigue forgotten as she skillfully swung over the spikes that splattered the ground, parrying off the platforms, there was no enemies, not a creature or bug in sight, only the sound leading her forward.

Hornet halted at the entrance of the mask maker's home, she had visited him once, during her training under queen vespa, the enigmatic bug had repaired her mask that was suffered the brunt end of a nasty fall during her training with the bees, hesitantly she entered the small passage way, but even then, the mask maker was nowhere to be seen.

She called out but no one answered, the den itself was empty, the grating had ceased the moment she stepped through the threshold, hornet was faced with an empty den but her instincts told her the answer she sought was there.

Hornet shot up from within the silken sheets, her body was smoldering, sweat clinging to her shell, her lungs heaving for air, as if she had just spent hours sparring, or fleeing from an unseen enemy.

The scent of smoke and ash was pungent, mingling with the scent of the troupe's incense in the still air of the quiet room, clinging to her feathered shawl as if she had danced with the nightmare king himself.

She wasn't surprised to find there was more blood leaking from under her mask, the darkness was alight with the same unnatural glow as the god's blood that stained the work tables, swirling with specs of black but refusing to mix.

Hornet stares into the dark with equal parts horror, and awe as the Wyrm blood's glow dissipates slowly, settling her back into darkness.

All this time, lies!, she had inherited the wyrm's gift of foresight and that bastard hid it from her! sealed it within her then abandoned her without intention of ever telling her of the truth!

Had he felt threatened by another being with godlike gifts, who's alliances rested outside of Hallownest?, had he hid it to protect her? Or to conceal his folly in sealing the hollow knight?

She'd never get her answers for the Wyrm had fled, vanished without word, nor trace, leaving her and her siblings to pick up the pieces he left in his wake, the coward!

Hornet was furious, but deep down it hurt, had she really known of their suffering before it was too late?

Had she really predicted the fall of Hallownest, seeing far beyond the pale king's failing sight, had she seen the death of her sibling?, could this all have been avoided? 

It was so long ago, but after shattering the seals the memories were creeping back leisurely, foggy and fractured within a childhood's age, it all felt surreal.

The pale king had abandoned her, he had left the hollow knight knowing full well what fate awaited them trapped within the black egg.

The wyrm had left them all to die! Hornet didn't realize she was gasping for air as she clinched the silk sheets between her claws.

Hurt and hysteria started to mix into the fray of emotions, bubbling up within her thorax, it burned, digging deep down, dredging up and seizing the remaining denial she harboured.

Hornet heaved, she felt stripped and raw, exposed to so much and in night.

It manifested in spite, such as her nature dictated, hornet was not wyrm nor vessel, she was a mortal of emotions and blood, she would spite the god who saw her unworthy of his heritage.

She would save her sibling, already his scions surpassed him, his halfling spawn had smitted out the tyrant he had so much as cowered from, yes she would not fail where he had.

She had the answer, no she had more then the answers she wanted or needed, the reality of her burden seemed heavier by the second, as if the weight of Hallownest rested heavily on her shoulders.

The room was still dark, but the red glow of the leering white slits above her, hidden amidst the shadows told the huntress she was not the only one awake.

His past words echoed in her head, the god already knew, he had known from the moment he infused her with the flames of his domain, But simply left her to discover it on her own, would she have even listened had he challenged her resolve?

She already knew the answer to that.

"Grimm..?" Her voice a hushed whisper still felt loud in the quiet room, it rang out over the empty darkness and was greeted with the menacing voice of the nightmare god.

"Princess?" 

Slowly the god emerged from the shadows, but just barely hornet could just make out his stripped mask, even so hornet's sharp eyes could see it was smeared with red.

The scent of iron was sparse but Hornet too was a hunter, and the scent of blood did not go unnoticed, even when hidden amongst the other more pungent scents in the room.

"You knew all along didn't you..? About the seal..and the my heritage?" 

She poised it as a question but her accusations were clear to both parties, he had known all along.

"It is not my place to force upon you a truth you were not ready nor willing to accept, tell me huntress, would you have listened had i bestowed upon you the truths behind the wyrm's deceit, what would it have changed?" 

The god parrots hornet's thoughts matter of factly,  
his voice held no shame just resolution, as if certain of his decisions.

"No! Yes! Had i known, I would have considered it least!, all i know this is far more important then just me now!"

Grimm did not respond his eyes still leered down on her, her he remained silent, hornet took this as her cue to continue, and she did so without hesitation.

"I saw it the flame, amongst the void...why didn't you tell me there was so much left within me...I thought you said it would burn out?"

This was not the question she had meant to ask, but it was the first out of her mouth anyway, what else had the nightmare god chosen to keep from her by omission?

There was a loud thump as something solid hid the floor, but before hornet lean over and see what it was, the troup master landed beside it soundlessly, blocking her view as he promptly incinerated the object with a burst of scarlet flames.

The not so distant memory of flesh bubbling under her smouldering shell makes hornet suddenly feel nauseous.

"Because I didn't feel it necessary, the void will be kept in check so long as your host to the flames, it will eventually return to that in which it came.." 

Grimm explained with a sigh, obviously he hadn't factored on her discovering that.

Hornet couldn't think of a reply to that, or was it there was too much to say?, would it have mattered if she admitted to the god of fear she was afraid? 

Afraid of the the future, afraid of herself, what new tribulations would dawn bring, if anything was a constant in hornet's life it was loss.

And loss was a terrifying and all encompassing entity in its own rite, was there a god of misfortune, or did that fall into Grimm's jurisdiction?

Had she somehow angered them, Was this all some sick form of karma spanning over lifetimes to spite her, to strip her of everything that she found solace in?

She realized that the god before her was becoming one of those many constants, the troupe's obnoxious use of red was becoming more and more easier on her eyes, even the music had become an expectation hornet was use to..would they be stripped away from her as well?

Eventually everything was..

The troupe master loomed contently at the edge of the bed, leaning against one of the many podiums, he had fixed her with a look, while he face showed nothing something seemed solemn in his gaze.

The room fell into a comfortable silence, the only sound the snoring Grimmchild hornet had left forgotten within the layers silk sheets.

"I..I think i know where I need to be, an old den, somewhere in Deepnest, I think the answer is hidden there somehow, it wasn't exactly clear...i just know i need to go there" 

"Then come dawn we shall go,  
If you've seen the answer lies there trust your sight, the moment you second guess yourself it will deceive you"

Hornet flinched at this, Looking to the god in Confusion, Grimm's words rang with chilling certainty, as if this was preordained to happen, were all gods always this unnerving or was it just the troupe master's own special charm?

"M-My foresight will eventually turn on me..?" Hornet asked, her voice a tight hiss.

The god blinked down at her, shifting to slide onto the edge of the bed, beckoning the huntress closure whilst he cupped his hands together.

Hornet pushed the silk sheets off, scooting closure to watch the flames that sprung to life in the dark, dancing within the nightmare god's reopened palms 

"As higher beings many of our gifts spurn from the ability to bend reality and soul to our wills, be it we are all different, gifted uniquely it is the same, and like all traits it eventually dissipates or changes be it with age, over use or even negligence, it is in the barest sense what we make it, if we believe we can not trust it, then it will deceive us" 

While he spoke that flame took various shapes, before flaring into and angry inferno only to wither into smoke as the trope master closed his palms.

Hornet studied the dissipating wraiths of smoke if only not to look at the god before, she have caught on to the way he had used to world "We" as if including her into the collective among gods, and that thought was terrifying, a truth pulling at her mind's protective barriers, forcing its way into acceptance.

The room had fallen into silence again, but this time an expectant one, she could feel the god's eyes boring into her carapace and it made the flames under her shell crawl with anxiety.

"I was not trained for this...the wyrm..he never told me of any of this"

Hornet mumbled, there it was again, the weight of expectations crushing her slowly, she didn't realize she was gripping the sheets until the other god pulled it from her hands.

To her surprise grimm laughed, it was an airy and scratchy noise, almost as if he was hissing.

"Fear not Princess, not all gods abandon their offspring without proper preparation, while the troupe does not specialize in wyrms, we've cross paths with many higher beings, what i know i will teach you, im sure we'll learn quite a lot from each other in our travels.

"Our travels?"

Hornet's eyes narrowed, she had never agreed to his offer, they were both aware of such, if the troupe master assumed he could manipulate her into letting him make that decision for her he was definitely more foolish then his predecessors.

"I don't recall ever agreeing to the nightmare hearts terms, nor will i even consider them until the pure vessel is safe!, do not overstep your boundaries troupe master, if we are allies i demand respect as such.

She fixed the god with a steely gaze, and they met the challenge, she could see the nightmare flames pulsing and writing behind his eyes, yet she did not falter, eventually he relented, slinking backwards and away.

"It seems I have overstepped my boundaries, I do apologize princess, while I mean no ill will, it is my nature to be optimistic, but I agree this is a conversation that can wait till your sibling is restored to a more stable state of being...it is best you rest, tommorow we leave for Deepnest"

Hornet watched as the troupe master slipped out of the room and into the darkness.

The room was silent once more save for the muffled snoring of the grimmchild.

Tommorow they would head to Deepnest, the first act in following her father's gift, much like had he once done the same, but would she make the same mistakes as him?

Had he second guessed his gift to the point it mutated into a faulty burden? Was he truly blind to the future he and the radiance had created in their reckless conflicts?

That night hornet's sleep was fitful despite a being devoid of any dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes this was confusing as shit, but now we get to see the true parallel of hornet's dream sequence concerning the hollow knight's shade in chapter to.
> 
> Im so pumped for the last chapter, even if this is only the first part of the series it will still be the first and only multiple chapter fiction work i have completed ;_;
> 
> Grimm stop getting ahead of your self.
> 
> Im so hyped for the last chapter hopefully i wont have to split it. 8T
> 
> Thanks for staying with me through out this dramafest and exploration! 
> 
> I know incan be confusing with my AUs but just ask and ill try to make it clearer if its not a spoiler!
> 
> ^[ ° w°]^


	6. Against The Unyielding Dark PT1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Was it Hallownest they sought to claim? Did they not realize he had already laid claim to this land, and it's godlings were under his protection?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are so many reason why this took so long, just know im sorry for the wait ;_; 
> 
> The silksong hype gave me a burst of motivation.

_**Grimm** _

  
"And why not? Are my flames not burning within her thorax already? Does my very essence not ward the claws of death from her shell? If so why do you bind me from the godling...?" The crimson god hissed lowly.

"It is because I do not trust you, your life has surpassed mine by eons, i doubt the reason why has alluded someone as old and wise you"

"My..Grimm, you've always been such a selfish creature..."

"And you my darling king are a hellion of a trouble maker! No is final!"

Grimm's mind mulled over the conversation of the previous night, it was the fourth time the god had attempted to persuade his vessel to remove the spawn, and allow him to assess the new god, and despite his repetitive denials, the god was nothing if not relentless.

His rapt attention to the matter, and interest in the huntress was rather concerning to the troupe master the nightmare heart did not always share it's agendas..

Grimm left the troupe curtains at the first peak of light, a time when there was little obligations, thus allowing the god peace to focus, listen and think, the sun had just barely rising but the sky was dark, thick with heavy clouds rolling ominously across the wide expense, Hallownest would see it's first rain in many many years.

Grimm smirked, naive bugs who would have assumed it to be anything like the calm tears of the city's erroneous leaks were due for an unfortunate surprise, already rogue droplets escaped the sky, foreboding the heavy storm to come.

The rain was cold against the troupe master's shell, but it's chill did little to soothe the unease coiling under his crimson thorax. 

From his perch atop the Elegantly wired metal light post, he could see nothing outside of the ordinary, Dirtmouth looked just as it had, dreary and calm, filled with lost souls who had found peace in the company of those who shared their plight.

But something was afoot, creeping around the edges of his vigilant eyes, the air was thick with it, the rain was stained with their claim, what were they doing here? What has brought such a creature to Dirtmouth? 

Was it Hallownest they sought to claim? Did they not realize he had already laid claim to this land, and it's godlings were under his protection?

Steam escaped the young god's mouth as he tasted the air, only to sneer at the acidic tang, in another life surly Grimm would have been intrigued by the soul infused water, but as it stood, it was only a audacious confirmation to the dread brewing within the young god's gut.

Grimm normally was not a hostile god, having spent eons avoiding confrontation, the weakened nightmare heart preferring to shy away from outright conflict, but being the situation as it was, he could not afford the appearance of another god, benevolent or otherwise, he would give them one warning, and if they failed to heed it, well then they would end up being one of the many coals to stoke the nightmare heart's flames...

Crimson eyes suspiciously scanned over a dreary Dirtmouth one final time, before Grimm slid gracefully to the ground, by now the rain had begun and earnest, his cloak already dampening uncomfortably under the heavy onslaught as he wandered across the small town.

There speckled with raindrops, running down it's cold smooth surface the metal bench stood, as it always had. A grim elegy to the days lost but not forgotten, the instinct to curl up beside the metal contraption was often combated with the urge to just flump down onto it's cold bars and cry like a larvae.

He would do neither, he was the troupe master now, and the responsibility demanded he keep his dignity firmly intact, instead he would share the dawn with their unfailing ally, during their travels throughout old Hallownest. Ahead of the troupe master stood the well, standing not too far ahead on the dirt road, the thought of today's activities brought a twinge of anxiety to the troupe master.

The young god had not descended into lower Hallownest since the ghost returned he, and his charm back to the safety of the troupe, the call of the black egg was almost overwhelming, but the thought of what he might find was terrifying enough to cull any plans to search for the Knight's remains within the ruins...

He hardly had time to consider exploring the ruins since he was forced to confront the enraged huntress, the circumstances too dire to risk such a selfish act.

It would be a task that would have to wait until they secure the Hornet's sibling's well being, he would not leave Hallownest without their nail and map.

The sound of feet squelching through the mud tore Grimm's mind away from his companion's grave, raising his head he spotted the burly musician rushing through the rain to his side.

"My lord, it's raining pails out here! Come inside before you catch your death!" Brumm chided furiously as he hurried to the god's side, umbrella in hand, to which he offered the troupe master. Grimm gratefully accepted the offering pleased to finally be spared the rain, but unable to resist teasing the dotting bug.

"If water could smite my flames we would need not a ritual old friend, besides do you not think the rain looks fascinating against my shell?" 

The god fixed Brumm with a smug stare as the burly bug stuttered and tripped over his own words, flusteredly trying to formulate a cohesive reply.

"Yes-i mean mmmmrm no?, uhh you look fine my lord! Even mmrrm soiled..." The musician huffed, head ducked, fiddling with his accordion as they entered the tent.

The young god chuckled lowly, it was always pleasing to fluster such a serious bug, when distraught the musician's soft neck ruff would pleasingly begin to rise and bristle, as Grimmchild he was once very fond of the bug's neck fur, but he seldom violated their space since taking over the troupe.

There was still that wall between the two, whispering of secrets and words left unsaid, but it was something that would stay that way until the musician saw fit to bring it to the light of scrutiny.

"Do you really think the two will join the troupe after this is all over master?" Brumm asked his usually stoic voice edged with uncertainty, it was apparent he had his doubts set on the sentinel, which was quite fair, the steely godling was a wild card.

"I'm sure time will sway her..." The god replied cryptically, as he eyed the path ahead in thought.

Everytime the troupe master felt they were making progress, settling onto even ground she sharply recoiled from his grasp, inwardly he berated himself for his actions the previous night.

It was in his nature to challenge those around him, the godling was most definitely not to be trifled with, the longer she stayed within the troupe's drapes, the more apparent it became that many aspects of both she and the knight's personalities were tailored to their sire.

That notoriously proud and stubborn wyrm..

It was surprising and pleasing to say the least, and while he realized he was quickly growing fond of the skittish sentinel, by lord he wished he had more time to work with.

There was no option to bully her into a corner, as seen she would just recoil and lash out harder in return, Grimm didn't want to make an enemy, he wanted what was his, the only sway he had over the princess was the pure vessel...

"The vessel will hold much sway in her future decisions, If they survive that is..." 

The young god punctuated the last word with a clawed finger, Brumm's face darkened as he processed the troupe master's words, his thick claws scratching thoughtfully at his mask.

"Are they really in such a ghastly state that you question the attainment in this venture? And say if the vessel indeed parishes before the huntress, what then? The troupe will be of no use to her" His servant stuttered, more in statement then question.

For the second time that morning Grimm feels a sneer marring his face, must the musician always be so cynical? 

Surely he knew they had little choice but to try? Lest they be forced leave this wretched land to the scavengers (who were no doubt coming) empty handed. Sure these were his own private concerns as well, but he did not need nor want them parroted back at him as if he couldn't handle the situation.

"You underestimate me old friend, it would be ideal to have both, but even if the vessel dies I fully intend to keep the godling s-"

"You can't just keep living creatures master, they are not toys nor treasure to hoard and collect!" Brumm cuts the troupe master off mid sentence, his voice irritated and sharp.

Irritation flared within the god, perhaps the musician stoked some guilt buried beneath years of ash, whatever it was it manifested aggressively so.

"No, such things are not, and yet the nightmare heart has you does it not?Tell me my friend are you a toy? What keeps you tailored to this troupe when I've given you an out so many, many times, or is it something other than loyalty that keeps you bound to us...?" The troupe master hissed, his voice cold and steely.

Brumm hardly noticed the troupe master move but all at once Brumm found himself pinned against the wall.

His master was close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off the God's crimson shell, they were purring, but it was just short of a growl, slowly claws were casually kneading through his neck ruff, something that could have been relaxing had he not seen a familiar blood lust in his master's eyes, and his hyper awareness the way his body pushed up against his.

The young god breathed deeply, swallowing the urge to to sink his teeth into the burly bug as they shied away from his questions, it would have been uncalled for and frankly messy, the appearance of another higher being was no doubt making him pissy, and Brumm had just been unfortunate enough to set him off.

It wasn't the first time things had gotten heated between the two, and it most certainly would not be the last.

But Grimm acknowledged that his companion was indeed right, if only distantly, with a final stroke of his soft ruff the god releases the bug.

Brumm, who had stiffened under the young god's grip, relaxed with a weary sigh, Grimm could hear the silent musician's rapid heartbeat begin to slow in his chest as he calmed his nerves.

"I..I'm Sorry my lord mrrrm, it was not my place to question you" Brumm had begin fumbling with his accordion again, a habit Grimm found both endearing and insufferable at the same time, partly because it made him feel somewhat guilty for his actions, but not guilty enough to apologise.

Instead the young god turned away from the musician, returning his original post in the middle of the hall before he had derailed the two.

"Go, find Devine, I need to leave the two of you here in my absence-" Grimm sighed, unable to finish his thoughts before his servant spoke again out of turn.

"Wait, you will be escorting her to Deepnest alone?!" Brumm exclaimed, but before be could continue on to berate the young god for his recklessness, Grimm silenced him with a raised claw, the bug pauses just as booming thunder crashes across the sky, the lightning crackling against the cloudy expanse could be seen even from within the tent drapes.

"I must go, we are running out of time, a scavenger is afoot and if we don't leave soon, the flames will consume the void...if that happens the vessel will die." Grimm spoke resolutely, leaving no room for questioning.

An ominous rumbling echoed throughout the sky above, and both bug and god paused to consider it, their eyes met a silent confirmation passed between the two..

"Is this it's doings?" Brumm asked in a hushed tone as the sound of water beating against the tents increased.

"Im almost certain it is, do not let lt breach Dartmouth, I fear it's seeking the godlings, I expect you to guard them with your lives but if they prove too hazardous don't hesitate to summon me, I haven't been to Deepnest in a long time, but something tells me this trip might last a little longer than any of us intended..."

Brumm nodded, his eyes narrowed in thought as he moved to the god's side, grimm sensed he was worrying over something, but instead of prying he allowed the musician to gather his thoughts before he inquired.

"Mrrrm if I may master, Do you really trust the fledgling's foresight?, what if she's misguided like her father?...I..i just don't know if you should be risking yourself for such-"

"I'll be fine darling, she may be a fledgling but I trust her sight's far more legible than that old light-blinded fool, I've traveled through the bowels of Deepnest countless times, a short traverse wont kill me, I sheln't let her go alone."

Brumm looked unsure, his eyes still held concern, a look Grimm found found endearing, slowly the god batted the fidgeting bug's restless claws away from his own furry neck ruff, smoothing down the downy setae, he could feel the bug calm under the ministrations.

"I understand your worry dear friend, I will take caution, rest assured I will see the next ritual, but I need you to be fleet we plan to depart soon, I need to ensure you and Divine are properly prepared" 

The air of command in his voice seemed to shake the musician back into his less vulnerable mindset, he stepped back, away from the reach of the god's inquisitive hands.

When he spoke his words were calm and even, as if he never uttered a word of concern for the god previously, as if he had just pulled a mask back onto his face.

Grimm turned away from his servant, staring into his dead eyes made something deep inside the troupe master begin to ache, what it was he did not quite understand, but his suspicions led him to smother the feeling as fast as possible, as they were not his to have.

Grimm didn't have to turn around to know his servant bowed dutifully, even to the god's back. 

"Yes my lord, I will summon her to your study, the Grimmkins will watch the parameter of this place for any signs of breach...be with caution, the troupe's future rest within your chest"

With that the burly bug vanished, leaving the god alone in the hall, somehow it seemed as if he was running away as well.

"Thank you Brumm..." The young god breathed, his eyes squinted in mild irritation, why did life have to be so confusing? Could fate just not tilt easily in his favor for once? The urge to punch the nightmare king and then continue on to the nightmare heart was almost insatiable, but it would be a venture that would have no choice but to wait, with an irritated sneer the young god continued on, silently hoping the young heiress would spare him the inconvenience of having to be the one to awaken her.

* * *

_**Hornet** _

Hornet woke to a strange rhythmic sound, a constant staccato that echoed within her sleep, slowly coaxing her into the waking world.   
Her eyes blearily opened and immediately tried to focus enough to identify the foreign noise, only to find it originated far above her, something pattering against the tarp from outside the tent.

Was it raining..?

It sounded so harsh and violent compared to what she was used to in the city of tears nor had she ever witnessed the phenomenon take place outside of the city...

Beside her the Grimmchild hissed uneasily from within the silken sheets, their large eyes blown wide, haunched form, and risen scale plates were a visible sign of their fear.

The spawn of nightmares looked absolutely pitiful hiding within the sheets, cowering against the shell of her thigh. With a sigh hornet pushed the rest of the sheets off, scooting around to fully access the little beast, to her amusement they had somehow yanked up half the sheets into a makeshift burrow. Why the troupe master had so many lavish quality sheets on a bed he never seemed to care to use was well beyond the huntress....unless-

Hornet's eyes narrowed as she severed her thought processes with a mental needle, instead she focused on coaxing the spawn from its makeshift lair.

The Grimmchild however was having none of this, the little heathen snapped at her claw as soon as she reached out towards them, the sound of their teeth snapping precluded a painful bite had they hit their mark, but hornet had grown up in a world where fangs and claws were a common if not necessary communication of rank among her people, the little mite's bluff held a little bite behind it, but not enough to deter the heiress of Deepnest.

And even had the child bit her, hornet wouldn't die of a small flesh wound, the huntress ignored the spawn's threat and reached into their lair regardless, surprising enough their teeth never breached her shell.

Instead the spawn started shrieking pathetically the moment she snagged her claws around their thin black neck, in a swift moment she dragged the crying imp from the sheets and onto her lap.

"If you start crying the moment your backed into a corner, you'll never learn to win any of the battles you'll find on your own"  
Hornet chided calmly to the child, while placing the spawn on her lap, she wrapped them in the thinnest lightest sheet she could find on the bed, slowly she stroked the spawn's head, she could feel their jittering body begin to relax much like the weaverlings she had once cared for had.

"See? It's just water, the rain can't harm y-"

This was successful in calming the child's cries, but just as the spawn seemed to deflate, a crackling explosion sounded outside the tent, it's booming volume so loud Hornet could feel the sound vibrate off her carapace.

For a second the chamber was illuminated by a flickering white light, Hornet flinched as the child screeched in alarm, tightening her grip to prevent the child from fleeing in panic, they hissed and spat, until she tucked them back into the mountain of sheets.

"What in the name of wyrm.." The huntress gasped, it felt as if the soul had been shaken from her shell, It would be smarter to leave them there, at least until the huntress could investigate what that horrid phenomenon was...

Slowly the godling slipped out of the bed, the temperature was much colder than what she had come to know within the troupe's tents, there was a heavy feeling of hanging in the air, a feeling that made her shell feel damp and prickle with uncertainty.

Slowly Hornet cracked open the door, she was met with silent halls, which for the tireless troupe was unusual in its own right, a pitiful whimpering urged the godling to hesitate, the spawn was staring at her from their hiding place amongst the sheets pitifully, silently begging her to stay.

"Be brave little one I shall return with your father"

Without waiting for a response she'd never receive, Hornet swiftly slipped out of the door and into the oddly chilly hallway, dimly lit and entirely devoid of life, the dark tents took on an eerie atmosphere, the rain beating against the tarp only adding to the unsettling feeling in the air, it was like walking through an ash littered graveyard in the middle of the night.

The silence was thick and heavy on her shoulders, as if a blanket was draped over the troupe, but the moment she heard a small disturbance to that silence she stopped, her claws instinctually reaching for the needle she still had yet to get back.

It was no doubt the slide of a large body against smooth stone, it echoed through the halls but try as she might Hornet failed to pinpoint its origins, it wasn't until the sound was right beside the huntress did the culprit show her half masked face.

"Ahhh, the spider has awakened, yes yes she has!" Giggled a thin and hushed voice, instinctively Hornet's mask immediately whipped around to the once empty space on her side, only to find it occupied by a large termite queen.

"Devine" Hornet greeted tense but politely, concealing her unsettled nerves at the presence of the large bug

Despite her sharp and charming smile the queen had an air around her that screamed of death, it wasn't something hornet was particularly foreign to, but as it stood it was a daunting vibe coming from a bug she hardly knew.

"Has the washdown awoken the spider? Is it the spider's first? Marvelous!" The large bug cooed, long scythe like claws framing her own face, her words leaving little room for the huntress to deny the assessment.

Irritation flared under the huntress's mask, but before she could utter any words of correction, the queen held up a claw, seemingly to silence her, before the other claw dug into the fluffy ruff of her neck and retracted a second later holding a long dainty maroon umbrella, which had no real business fitting in the small amount of fluff that circled her thorax.

Hornet was still eyeing the Queen's ruff in wonder when suddenly the umbrella was placed in her claws, Hornet held the contraption awkwardly, staring from umbrella to queen unsure of how to respond to the gift...if that's what it was.

The termite's smile widened, to the point in which Hornet could see the razor sharp teeth hidden behind the queen's sly facade, as she giggled lightly.

"Trust me little spider, you will need that, rains not like your cute little city leakage, many souls get washed out in the wilds" 

"Then I give my thanks, the spawn..they fear the noise" Hornet gestured to the troupe master's bed chambers, speaking with a unsure nod as she eyed the termite, stifling down the apprehension building within her chest as another bolt of lighting Struck the sky, momentarily illuminating the tent and casting grotesque shadows on the bug before her, distorting her masked face and claws within sharp shadows.

Seemingly satisfied now that the huntress sported a umbrella Devine, began to turn away, and drift up the hall, the queen's movements were disturbingly quiet for a bug of her size, she stopped in the doorway of the troupe master's room, hesitating a moment before glancing back at the halfling.

"I will tend to the child, the master seeks you out, today you should be weary danger is afoot and there is no knight to guard the nightmare flame's vessel..I'm sure you'll do" 

The queen stated half handedly as she slipped into the room without a word more, except it didn't feel offhand at all to the huntress.

There was a steely glint to the queen's ever smiling eyes, a demand, one that Hornet's never seen but once on the face of a bug, and that bug was her mother and queen.. When she demanded the pale king's assurances that she would be accounted for...

"Guard the vessel, from what...?"

Considering the bug's words Hornet continued to seek out the nightmare god, the trek through the near empty tents was as eerie as it was lonely, her only company the steady hum of falling rain.

Hornet found herself feeling unnerved by the solitude despite it being the only constant she knew for countless years, it goes to show how much she had changed since meeting the little vessel...

Her search led her to the mouth of the tent, with little to no signs, and for the first time her eyes laid upon the source of the morning's booming racket, above the sky wept, thick dark clouds coiled together like wispy shades rolling against the breeze, heavy raindrops fell from the sky, pelting the earth with a force Hornet had never thought possible.

Rain sprinkled against the sentinel's mask as she stood in transfixed awe at the rain storm taking place before her, she could hardly see through the thick watery downpour!

"Ahm" the sentinels head whipped around to see the troupe's musician by her side, staring out at the rain as well, noting that she had not heard him approach her either and realized that as a hunter their lack of forewarning was beginning to really irk her. Yet she did not voice this, instead she greeted the burly bug with a polite dip of her mask "Did the storm disturb you? it is fierce for the Hallownest's first."

"Is this normal?...I've never seen rain outside the city of tears, it feels so much harsher, but also odd..." Hornet admitted perplexed, something about it felt different, the harsh downpour mesmerizing yet it felt strange weighted almost, like the water was calling out to her, seeking and wanting, like a lure of sorts.

Something about it made the huntress weary as she looked out into the sodden landscape, beside her Brumm was silent for a breath, his steely eyes fixated on the dreary town before them with strangely distrustful leer laden in them as he chose his words carefully

"Mrrrrm weather is a fickle thing outside Hallownest, but I think you should trust your instincts princess, not all is often what it seems, Master Grimm is awaiting your presence in the dining, you shall be departing for deepest soon"

Yes, soon they would be traversing through that to travel to Deepnest, it wouldn't be for long but still the thought filled her shell with apprehension, without realizing Hornet found she had been clenching the umbrella within her claws, it served as a comforting presence as the huntress tore her eyes away from the rain, letting the tent flap fall behind her, creating a barrier between her and the strange feeling lingering outside the tent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fics a jagged mess feel free to ask questions if your lost in this self indulge clusterfuck.
> 
> Your support means the world ;_;

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy ;_;  
> Aksjmdnd thanks for the kudos!


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